Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. You're listening to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Josephine

Kassily. Today we're going to Coate Duvoire. The country's commercial capital, which is called

Abijon, is known for its thriving LGBT scene.

Unlike many of its West African neighbours,

Coate Duvoire doesn't explicitly outlaw homosexuality,

and it's seen by many as a haven for LGBT people in the region.

Today I'm finding out about a group of LGBT of Aurians who in the 90s

campaign to make the country more tolerant.

When a group of travesty,

that's a group of travesty,

that's people and cross-dresses come out in a neighborhood

in broad daylight to protest that creates quite a stir.

On a sunny afternoon in 1992 a small group descended on an office block in the center of Abijon.

We blocked the gates so no cars could get in or leave and some of us stayed outside to block

the road and the traffic. That's Barbara. She's an

Ivorian trans activist. We climbed the gate and jumped into the courtyard and we

were chanting. Their target was the headquarters of a national newspaper.

...