Anan Bouapha, who is referred to by the HuffingtonPost as the leader of the country’s nascent LGBTI movement. In 2012, he founded Proud to Be Us Laos, the nation’s first civil society network promoting equal rights for people with sexual and gender diversity communities. As President/Founder, he was instrumental in organising the first Pride event in Laos. Anan was honored with the Asian Pink Awards (Asia LGBTI Rights Awards) in Singapore in 2014 and praised for his work in combating HIV and initiated the LGBT rights movement. His organisation “Proud to be us Laos” was ranked in the Top 9 World LGBT Change Heroes by The Guardian in 2016. In 2019, he was selected as one of the Grand Marshalls of Montreal Pride along with Steve Cruz of Star Trek and Monica Helms – The creator of Transgender Flag.