«The secret history of the mongols», considered the oldest literary work in the Mongolian language, is the only significant native account of Mongolia’s rise to power around the 12th century AD. This text provides a clear narration of the events that transformed a dispersed land of nomads into Asia’s greatest dominion. The work vividly portrays the journey of a young Temujin before he became the great ruler of Asia: Genghis Khan.

Blending fictional and historical accounts, this epic poem and narrative recounts how the warrior managed to organize over thirty tribes vying for control and how, once in power, with the goal of increasing his population and confronting the Chinese army led by the Song dynasty, he declared homosexuality illegal under penalty of death.

It is interesting to note that transsexuality has certain roots in Mongolian tradition. Shamans held a special status among the nomadic population, serving as a link between the spiritual and human worlds.

Today, more than eight hundred years later, Mongolia is a sovereign country with the lowest population density in the world, with fewer than two inhabitants per square kilometer; homosexuality remains a taboo subject. The weight of tradition and the years under Soviet control—a period during which homosexuals were sent to gulags—remain a burden for gay, lesbian, and transgender people, who continue to face repression, rejection, and victimization. Condemned to a life of secrecy, many turn to prostitution, while others lead lives of solitude. Younger generations struggle to leave Mongolia for countries like the Philippines or Japan, where their condition is more accepted, and the dream of a sex change is attainable; but above all, they search for an identity that, in their native land, has been denied for far too long.