If someone told Sindhuja in the dying moments of 2009 that a decade later, she would be standing as a full citizen and garnering the adulation of her family and friends, she would have laughed it off. At the time, the 14-year-old was facing rejection at home for not being heterosexual, hadn’t seen anyone like her in books and movies, and was criminalised under Indian law. “I would have never believed life could get better, but here I am today, happy,” she said. Sindhuja’s journey — from a lonely teenager growing up in a small Karnataka town to an out, confident professional — encapsulated a remarkable decade for the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people across the globe in a decade that saw the United States and United Kingdom affirm same-sex marriage and repeal discriminatory laws, countries such as New Zealand and France confirm financial and adoption rights for the queer community, and others such as India scrap colonial decrees that criminalised entire populations.