Mexican culture is full of beautiful and symbolic celebrations. One of the most important is the Quinceñera – a party where families present their daughters to society as women, at the age of 15. There's over 1,000,000 Quinceañeras every year, and many girls say it's one of the most meaningful days of their lives.

But most trans women are excluded from this cultural milestone.

This is due to deep-rooted transphobia and machismo in Latin America. In fact, Mexico is the world's second most dangerous country for trans people. No wonder trans women aren't celebrated when they transition – No matter at what age.

Pantene observed a tension in Mexican culture: A society that uniquely celebrates the passage into womanhood – is the same society that excludes trans women from being celebrated. Our objective was to prevent culture from pushing trans people into the shadows, and hiding who they really are.

We bring together two things that Mexican society keeps apart: (1) The Quinceñera, a celebration of womanhood, and (2) Trans Women, who are never celebrated when they transition.

The idea was to give one trans woman the Quinceñera she never had, as a message of hope to inspire millions. We had to find a single story that could highlight the whole community: That’s when we met Isa, a 44-year-old trans woman and mother of two, who boldly sent a statement to the world by having her quince, 29 years later.

She allowed us to document her celebration, and tell her real story of bravery, resilience, self-love, and acceptance. Our goal was to reach as many people as possible: as one of the largest beauty brands in Latin America, we wanted to shine a light on a group of women who have been living in the shadows for far too long.

Pantene’s purpose is to empower more people to show their true identity through hair. We believe every woman deserves to be celebrated, and live life as their truest selves.

For trans women, hair is immensely important. It’s directly tied to their identity as women, and growing their hair out is one of the first visual changes they make when they begin transitioning.

The strategy was to help one of the most marginalized groups in society – trans women – through the power of visibility. So, we launched our message on International Day of Trans Visibility – garnering eyes from all over the world. Sending a powerful message of hope to trans people everywhere, that self-love and family acceptance can conquer all. Here’s to being seen, and showing the world who you truly are, with hair that reflects your identity.

We began this project with a beautiful casting journey. Meeting over 60 amazing trans women from all over Mexico – hearing some of the bravest, most heartfelt stories. This brought us to Isa – a remarkable 44-year-old trans woman who agreed to let us document her quinceanera party, as a statement to the world.

Due to the Pandemic, a big party wasn’t possible. Instead, we created an intimate celebration that happened to be the stage for a radical breakthrough in Isa’s family. During the party, her father gave an emotional speech that became the crown jewel of our film. A speech in which he calls Isa his daughter for the first time.

Editing was a herculean feat. Hours of beautiful storytelling, distilled into one emotional 5-minute film. We hired GLAAD, a global LGBTQIA+ authority, to collaborate on the edit, ensuring trans people were involved in every step of the process.

In addition to raising awareness of trans issues in Mexico, we shifted the negative conversation that normally dominates trans topics:

- Almost 216MM impressions in 68 countries across 5 continents, from Mexico to as far as Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Brunei.

- 20MM reach over social channels in 1 week.

- 98% positive sentiment on social, contrasting with a 50/50 split around trans people during the same period.

- Important publications like Fox and CBS picked up our story, as well as Elle: the publication that sets beauty standards and has historically excluded trans people.

Reinforcing P&G’s commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community:

- $4 million+ ?raised to date to benefit 6 diverse LGBTQ+ organization?s.

- Commitment to continue to integrate the LGBTQIA+ community in Pantene’s initiatives in Latin America.