In India, radical changes are happening within the LGBTQ+ community due the leadership of its royal members.

The first openly gay prince, Manvendra Sinan Gon, is using his royal status to advocate for his community. One of his first major contributions? Producing a educational course centered around a sociological approach to the LGBTQ+ community at Karnavati University. Students from the higher secondary to PhD level are set to take this course which layouts the history of LGBTQ+ people, the mental and physical hardships they may encounter, the acceptance of those who are part of the community, and many other topics.

Coming soon to the public an Egyptian based film called “The Wedding,” which puts focus on those who live in a conservative environment, while being gay. Though not released, there is already hope that this film will help put more focus on the  issues facing individuals like this who cant speak up, for fear of societal backlash.

The film is going to be released under Araba, a newly founded film company dedicated to supporting LGBT rights. The director of this film, Sam Abbas, and a seperate movie producer who chose to remain an anonymous investor, founded this company plan to release other narrative films as well as documentary in the coming years. “The Wedding” will kick off their enterprise.

The film centers around a man forced into a loveless marriage to a woman though he secretly identifies as gay. The movie and the actual company are based in Egypt which caused an abundance ill feelings.

As of 2013, 95% of the civilians believe that homosexuality should not be accepted, and there are still legal restrictions to those who are openly gay as well.

Nevertheless, this does not seem to stop Abass in his future endeavors with the company, and doesn’t distract him from his reason for going forward. “I would really hope that people who have watched the film walk away with the understand that life is too short to have a double life. That’s how I felt, and that’s why I made this movie.”

The climate for the LGBT people living in Malaysia is worsening by their second, as the public caning of two gay women show the lack of progress happening for their community.

According to CNN, the two women were caught attempting to have sex in the car, and the next were hit six times each with a cane and ordered to pay the equivalent of 800 dollars each.

Over 100 people witnessed this punishment, sanctioned by the state government, with one saying it was, “a public canning to all intents and purposes.” This the first time a punishment like this was open for all to see, just as the raid of gay night club was that happened  last month, with 20 men being charged with “illicit behavior” and ordered to a fine as well.

The past few years brought an increase in state sponsored LGBT discrimination, as a result of years of anti- LGbT effort according to Thilaga Sulathireh, so is representative of the LGBT advocacy group Sisters for Justice.

Female transgendered people seem to be suffering the worst however, between the brutal, unsolved attacks on lone transwomen, the random, verbal abuse that they encounter daily.

Now in France, LGBT expert Frederic Potier  is working to decrease the hate crime percentage in his country and also improve the lives of the queer community.

Potier, who is a straight LGBT ally with two children is dedicated to the feeling being community, having taken part in various volunteer based events and protests.

After the 2016 massacre at the pulse nightclub in Orlando, he was inspired to take his work to the next level, and try to spread country-wide efforts to make a positive change in the community.

He started this with first devising a deep study into the history of homophobia in French society as a way to educate himself on a history he never had to face himself.

“It’s really a matter of education..we have to deconstruct those cliches on homosexuality,” Potier said.

The widespread plan by the Potier office began in 2017 by putting 1.5 million euros towards LGBT sensitivity projects, the Gay Games, and marketing and advertising games. This is also what he is using to push his next project: reproductive rights for women and the LGBT community.

Education is the main course of action for this LGBT advocate to improve the queer live for those in France, and it’s gonna take a good amount of time to see what the actual result is.