7 International LGBT Activists You Need To Know About

From: NewNowNext

Ivana Fred

Puerto Rico

“I began working in community health 10 years ago, offering HIV education to the LGBT community here in Puerto Rico,” explains Ivana Fred, a longtime member of Puerto Rico’s activist community.

“Education has been an important part of my work, and it still is. I enjoy activism in all of its forms, including talking to politicians and advocating for policy change,” she told the Latin Correspondent.

The 2014 documentary Mala Mala profiled Fred and other members of the country’s trans and drag communities as they battle employment discrimination, violence and other obstacles.

“I feel tremendous pride about this film. I never thought it would go around the world, but here it is, showing in other countries,” she says. “What I feel really proud about is how diverse it is—it shows different lives of people who identify as trans: people who are older, those who are younger; those who are sex workers and those who own their own businesses.”

She says Mala Mala has been educational in her country, showing that trans people are in every part of life.