#TBT VIOLENCE WITHIN THE LGBTQIA COMMUNITY

 IN 2016, I did a questionnaire on violence not just to but also among LGBTQIA Individuals. I was curating a Twitter account called  Life of A Feminist of Colour.  It used to have feminists of colour from different parts of the world curate conversations and share their experiences. 

I did a thread on racism in porn too Read it here

There is an old adage that goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I thought I should reshare this questionnaire because it has been years since I did it but also because it's Pride Month kids.

I must admit that I have learned so much and evolved further since then.  

If you want to view the original questionnaire, it is on this HERE.

TW/CW Rape, abuse, violence, police 

                                                                         

I have been writing about how it is hard for LGBTQIA individuals living in homophobic counties to report their abusive partners, it is even worse when it is masc presenting and much worse for transgender individuals, especially transwomen.

Whereas in the West they can be named, in countries that have homophobic laws, these individuals' death is many times swept under the rug, hidden and ignored not just by society but by the very institutions meant to protect them.

If a gay man is physically or sexually abused by another gay man in Zambia, who will he report to, especially if it's an intimate partner?

The language already used to frame defilement or rape of young boys is already problematic, add a grown man raping a young boy and the headlines seek mostly to perpetuate and frame all gay men as paedophiles rather than address the issue of consent and power dynamics involved.

To report violence is to out yourself, to expose yourself to another cruel element, THE LAW.

Laws that deem your very existence illegal cannot then be expected to protect, Zambia's Victim Support Unit exists mostly to protect Cis Women.

Decriminalising homophobia is the best solution as this will give all citizens equal rights under the law. I hope that this Pride Month we remember that the Transgender mothers who started this movement began it in protest of the killings and the brutality.

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH