One Year. One Campaign. One Billion People

A new video looks back on a year of the UN Human Rights Office’s Free & Equal campaign against homophobia and transphobia, launched by then High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in Cape Town South Africa on 26 July last year.

In the past twelve months, more than a billion people have been exposed to the campaign – online, through the media and at a series of events around the world. Millions have watched and shared campaign videos – one of which, a Bollywood-style music video with a message of gay acceptance, rapidly became one of the most widely watched UN videos ever produced.

Inspired by the global campaign, UN field offices have launched or are planning national-level spin-off campaigns, some of which are also profiled in the new video. Events are already taking place in Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru, with plans for events in several other countries in the coming months.

The video, entitled “UN Free & Equal: One Billion Rising,” looks back on a busy year of campaigning – from high-profile launches and celebrity support to the use of social media to share messages of respect and acceptance. Watch to learn more about UN Free & Equal and share to show your support for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people everywhere.

19 September 2014