The project My Voice, My Story enables the voices of the LGBTI community in Cambodia to be heard through the use of participatory photography as a tool for social change. This project is a continuation of the previous empowerment grant titled My Voice, My story; Reducing Stigma for the LGBTI community. Using visual narratives and arts, the project pushes marginalised groups to raise awareness, advocate for their rights, ensure they gain better access to public services, and participate in political debates at the commune level. Apart from photography, the project incorporates oral storytelling along with traditional arts of songs composed and sung by talented LGBTIQ and their allies. The project also looks into other areas such as raising awareness. The culture of storytelling is innate in Khmer culture. The use of oral, visual, and written stories enables the project to reach a wide spectrum of people across Cambodia to educate and sensitise them about the issues facing the LGBTI community. It also focuses on advocacy and self-expression as members of the LGBTI community gain confidence through self-expression. The use of visual narratives enables rightsholders to have an impact on the decision-making process. Factsheets are developed, to be shared with different ministries, describing the reality of LGBTI people and their roles as citizens. Safe spaces are created to promote dialogue and meaningful exchange. These spaces enable the LGBTI community to share their stories and inspire others to do the same without fear of persecution or repression. These spaces include exhibitions, events, and virtual engagements on social media.

“I’m happy to host the Rainbow Life exhibition at my home because I want to show the young generation to be aware of the values of LGBTQI people as we are also a good Buddhism, do a good deed, support and love each other, and being inclusive in society. I want people to reduce their discrimination against us and accept who we are. To the young LGBQI people, you should be strong and dare to face the truth of who you are. ” Said Horn Chhoeun, 62 years old, a Lesbian couple.  

Project main achievements  

• Spirit of change from a hopeless and isolated elderly disability who identifying as LGBTIQ couples in Kampong Cham and Takeo has taken great action to lead rainbow life museum to host the exhibition twice and are motivated by neighbors to re-host the event even though due to the COVID19 breaking.  

• Amazing step of elder transwoman in Prey Veng who never came out to her family includes her blood daughter (she was forced to marry a woman by her parents early 80s) decide to organize the rainbow life museum and the surprisingly the daughter and her parents supporting her to organize the event to invite more neighbor than we expected.  
• Virtual arts with storytelling published in social media bring more than one million views. This has led the team to continue to strengthen their skills of filming skills to bring more intersectional LGBTIQ stories to publish in social media as the greatest part to change the attitude of Cambodian people from stigma and discrimination to be supportive and friendly engage for any social activity.  
• Due to the Covid19 disrupting the whole community work, the team still keep using a mobile phone and one-to-one meeting to bring the story. This means their goal is still kept by their team. This also shows that their team spirit still is a great fighter for equality and human rights.  
• Using storytelling of intersectional elderly LGBTIQ who are champions in their community to the public through technology is very powerful empowerment to change the mindset of neighbors but also Cambodia.  
• Understanding technology and capturing the writing of LGBTIQ activists is the soul of the project to motivate the activist to keep posting a photo, videos with a short caption to allow the public to read and understand slowly but hope to reach millions of people.  

• One workshop on the zine and virtual arts for the LGBTIQ in Phnom Penh and the province surrounding Phnom Penh 
• There were 80 LGBTIQ stories published on the Facebook page and another 100 still in progress and editing to be published continuously. The stories are all about LGBTIQ with different ages and SOGIE identity which include LGBTIQ who are disabled, ethnic, indigenous, young, old, and different job titles. 
• Rainbow Life Exhibition was conducted 8 times reached more than 700 communities by using flexible strategies from gathering in LGBTIQ houses to going to pagodas due to Covid-19. Significant achievements are a transgender woman who never come out till 60 years old have been proud to say to her neighbors, daughter, and also parents that she never changed herself even parent forced her (him in the past to get married to a woman).  
• SWOT analysis assessments on CamASEAN were developed to improve the organizational structure and their strategic plan in the future.  
• They keep doing Facebook LIVE for engaging the young people to visible their stories through their FB page https://www.facebook.com/CambodiaLGBTIQLegalCounselling/  

• 3 A Yay songs (traditional music performance) about LGBTIQ by the transgender couple were recorded and prepared to publish on their FB page.  
• CamASEAN also a local partner of ACS for online exhibition https://seaqcf.net/program/my-voice-my-story-cambodia?fbclid=IwAR36YY9u0E2PPdga8INGtlcm7gPJ2UVJfQGH-dgrgxWvWOpA2TtG3jQHyCY  

CamASEAN has continued the work of collecting positive and inspiring stories of LGBTIQ with an intersectional background such as ethnic, indigenous, disability, young, old, and job status include sex workers. The result of collecting stories have motivated the team to develop another idea of developing photo talks, short documentary, and short videos as well as to document their family background to advocate for policy change soon.  The documents they have collected are birth certificates, family books, ID cards, passports, and other legal documents that aim to advocate with National Assembly and the commune councils.  

Publications:  

• One inspiring story of a transgender couple with reached more than 1 million view https://web.facebook.com/585240264918145/videos/632309194017463  
• A short documentary by CamASEAN: https://seaqcf.net/program/my-voice-my-story-cambodia?fbclid=IwAR36YY9u0E2PPdga8INGtlcm7gPJ2UVJfQGH-dgrgxWvWOpA2TtG3jQHyCY 
• Rainbow photo stories exhibition: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=MyVoiceMyStory&set=a.3264237860351692&_rdc=1&_rdr 

Documented and collected stories of LGBQI couples:   

• My Voice, My story: https://web.facebook.com/MyVoiceMyStory/photos/?tab=album&ref=page_internal  
• Rainbow Lives Museum: https://web.facebook.com/RainbowLifeMuseum/photos/?tab=album&ref=page_internal  
• Cambodia LGBTQI legal counseling https://www.facebook.com/CambodiaLGBTIQLegalCounselling/