A Year of Intersex Victories

endoQueer is an online support network that provides a safe space for queer, trans, and non-binary people with endometriosis to build community, get support, and find resources. The site offers rigorously-researched resources, advocacy tips, and mutual aid. LGBTQ2S+ people can also find specific examples of how to advocate for inclusive care. endoQueer was consulted by Canada’s only endometriosis charity to help them create a blog highlighting the experiences of queer, trans, and non-binary people. The site also serves as a resource for health care providers looking to provide supportive and inclusive care.

The ability of social media and online civic participation to impact law and politics is still developing, but one social media tool - Friendfactor - was used successfully in New York to help bring about the passage of Gay Marriage Equality. It may be an indicator for how powerful platforms like this one will continue to play a role in societal growth and change.

Dalit hip-hop musicians are using their art and social media to propel the Dalit rights and anti-caste movements to the forefront of mainstream conversation.

A growing Generation Z movement is pushing back against social media companies and the pervasiveness of technology in young people’s lives, which can negatively impact mental health. LookUp is one organization that funds young people working to increase digital wellbeing. Funded initiatives include a youth summit that drew 1,200 people, apps that help people manage their social media usage and identify the connections to their wellbeing, and NoSo November, which urges young people to log off or delete all social media apps for the month of November as a group experience rather than an isolating one.

MozaiQ provides support for the LGBTQ community and fosters stronger ties among queer Romanians. The group creates safe spaces and offers programming, from football championships to job fairs and professional skills building classes. It also helps with urgent needs, like finding emergency shelter, and fosters long-term relationships in the community, offering pro bono training to companies on the importance of inclusivity in the workplace. The group has particularly empowered queer Romas, whose intersectional identities compound issues of discrimination, increase their confidence to fight for their rights.

A viral campaign from Indigenous activists, TikTok creators, and documentary filmmakers led to about 6.3 million letters being sent to federal agencies encouraging them to halt fossil fuel development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They created social media content and a toolkit for creators to use on their platforms that made it easy for the message to spread.

The teenage girls of Thennamadevi are leaders in their community. They’re actively fighting against gender discrimination by organizing. They successfully lobbied politicians and brought streetlights, and sanitary napkins to their village. Across the country, similar girls clubs are being implemented, reflecting an international girls power movement.

Since beginning office Senior Chief Theresa Kachindamoto, tribal ruler of the Dedza District in central Malawi had one mission: To end child marriages. “In 2017 alone, the chief annulled some 200 child marriages in her district. During her 14-year reign, she has terminated the marriages of roughly 2,600 child brides and helped the girls finish their education, often by subsidizing their school.”

Peru formerly had one of the highest rates of stunting in South America, with chronic malnutrition affecting more than 1 in 4 children under five. Thanks to results-based budgeting and a government-wide commitment to fighting child poverty, the country has halved that rate, improving the long-term health and cognitive development of its youngest citizens.

The Justice for Magdalenes Research organization is working to spread awareness and gain justice for the survivors of Magdalene laundries in Ireland throughout the 1900s. Women and girls were sent to laundries, kept there against their will, forced to work without pay, and severely mistreated.