APTN: CHANGE THE CLAP

The Campaign

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.