The United States has made great strides toward equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans over the past 15 years. For example, same-sex marriage is now legal nationwide, more states have adopted anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBT persons, and the federal hate crimes statute has been expanded to cover sexual and gender minorities. But what are things like for LGBT persons in other parts of the world?

In the TED talk below, filmmakers Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazlos provide some much-needed cross-cultural perspective. Chang and Dazlos traveled to 15 different countries (including India, Kenya, China, and Argentina) and interviewed 50 people along the way for a documentary. They found that, in many of these countries, LGBT persons frequently lack even the most basic of rights. At the same time, however, they consistently found examples of courageous folks (or, in their words, "supergays") who are hard at work fighting for social change. Their stories are inspiring and led Chang and Dazlos to conclude that "equality is not a Western invention." Check out their talk below to learn more.