LGBT rights activists in China are launching a campaign to increase transgender visibility.

An event on Friday 17 May (IDAHO – International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) called lgbT – Increasing Transgender Visibility in China aims to spread awareness about trans issues.

‘Chinese society is currently still largely unaware of the plight of transgendered people in China, who face stigma and discrimination on a daily basis,’ said a statement from event organizers Queer Comrades,

‘With the event, we focus on bringing attention to transgender communities in China and increasing public understanding of transgender issues.’

Queer Comrades are reaching out to the media, educators and counselors ‘as they fulfill important firstline roles in the spreading of information and the providing of help regarding transgender issues’.

The event, hosted by the Netherlands Embassy in Beijing, will feature the premiere of 30-miniute film Brothers, the first documentary about trans men in China. Director Yao Yao won the opportunity to make the film after attending a Queer Comrades film training workshop in March 2012.

Brothers tells the story of Tony from Jinan. ‘Even if I commit suicide, even if I die. First I want a flat chest,’ he says in the film. ‘It’s nauseating to think that I wouldn’t leave behind a male corpse.’

Yao Yao and Tony will speak at a panel discussion at the event joined by founder of the Transgender Resource Center Hong Kong Joanne Leung and psychologist Zhen Hongli.