#ChangeTheClap

The campaign is built on a powerful local insight associated with transgender people specifically in the subcontinent: the transgender clap. This unique form of clapping, in which one spread-out hand is struck against the other palm to palm, is used frequently to degrade, mock and insult the transgender community. The idea was to challenge a transphobic mind-set in the country by using the same hands – and transform the clapping action from one of ridicule to one of applause, respect and inclusion. Transgender people in accomplished roles such as Pakistan’s first transgender model Kami Sid, asked people to #ChangeTheClap. From clapping AT transgender people to clapping FOR them, the campaign depicted how a simple shift in a gesture was powerful enough to transform entire mindsets. This was a change that was instrumental to empowering the community and giving them an equal standing in society. An online film was launched on International Human Rights Day highlighting the need for a shift in mind-set. For the first time ever, instead of being reduced to lesser humans, accomplished transgender persons like Kami Sid and Neeli Rana were featured in high-achieving roles. The film concluded with a simple call to action: #ChangeTheClap. People from 26 countries joined the movement, changing their clap from one of ridicule to one of applause. The world’s first transgender bot was also launched to clear misconceptions about transgender persons. On-ground, posters were put up in public spaces and universities inviting people to #ChangeTheClap and a children’s book was distributed to create a shift in mind-set at an early age. The message was so powerful that it resulted into a movement as people across Pakistan raised their ‘claps’ on the issue leading up to the first of its kind, the world’s first clapping protest. The campaign went viral in the subcontinent, spreading to 26 different countries. With $0 media budget, we generated over half a billion impressions, 3 million organic film views, and over 20K shares. The campaign became the catalyst for a societal movement in Pakistan - including "clapping" protests on streets - which led the country's National Assembly to approve the Transgender Person Rights Bill, giving transgender people equal legal protection (i). HuffPost called it “not only unprecedented in Pakistani history, but one of the most progressive laws in the world.” #ChangeTheClap helped transform culture: Pakistan now has its first celebrated transgender newscaster (ii). Most impactful of all, for the first time in Pakistan, the Centre for Islamic Ideology has now classified ridicule against transgender people as un-Islamic.