From movies and TV to fashion and sports, trans people are beginning to make a mark. Music might finally be next.

If you think the entertainment industry’s attitudes toward trans people aren’t changing, think again.

In September, Everlast, boxing’s industry leader, selected Patricio Manuel, the first transgender boxer to compete professionally, to sponsor its “Be First” ad campaign. In August, Victoria’s Secret hired Valentina Sampaio as its first transgender model. And in June, Pose star Indya Moore became Elle magazine’s first transgender cover star.

While trans women and men have been breaking through in industries from movies and television to fashion and sports, music remains an exception. Laura Jane of punk rock group Against Me! landed on the Billboard 200 in 2011, but that was before her transition. Lucas Silveira, lead singer of Canadian band the Cliks, became the first transgender lead singer to be signed to a major label, but he hasn’t made much noise since his signing, in 2007. Now, there are signs that the music landscape might be about to catch up.

Activists’ favorite app is just an everyday tool in Central Asia’s most populous nation.

Police and criminals normally operate in different worlds, but not in Uzbekistan. There, all you have to do is open up your Telegram app, where you can report a traffic violation to authorities while texting your drug dealer.

Secure messaging app Telegram has become synonymous with protests around the world. It’s been popular on underground channels in Iran since 2015, and figured prominently in activist movements from Puerto Rico to Hong Kong. But in Uzbekistan, it’s not just protesters who’ve embraced the app. It’s business, government, and yes, the police. In fact, Telegram is more popular in Uzbekistan than anywhere else in the world.

Rob Barron is activating Iowa's growing Latino vote, which means presidential contenders are calling.

Most of Des Moines is as White as the October snow. But La Placita, in the northeast part of Iowa’s capital city, is colorful, with murals depicting mariachi bands next to Latin boutiques, bakeries and groceries. It’s the capital within the capital for the budding Hispanic community here. And it’s where Rob Barron, founder of the Latino Political Network (LPN), casually holds court, picking at french fries beneath piñatas hanging from the ceiling like chandeliers.

At 40 years old, Barron is already a dean of Des Moines politics for the Latinx community. After working for former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin for 13 years, he was elected to the school board in 2013 — becoming the first Latino to win elected office in Polk, Iowa’s largest county. Through his network, founded in 2015, Barron has fostered a rise of Latino public officials, from about “eight or nine” to 24, he says.