Are We Europe Readouts

LGBTQ+ asylum seekers across Europe struggle to prove their sexuality to find safety.

This story is a part of our magazine—The Queer Issue.

Queer people are being targeted everywhere we turn. In its 2021 report, ILGA—the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association—has warned of a stark rise in abuse and hate speech against LGBTQ+ people. This is not just coming from increasingly organised groups of bigots on social media, but also from government and mainstream media. Is Europe paying attention to these warning signs?

This story is a part of our magazine—The Queer Issue.

Queer Roma people's experiences are shaping LGBTQ+ activism in Romania, one of Europe's most religious societies.

This story is a part of our magazine—The Queer Issue.

Although Italy still lags behind many of its neighbours when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, pockets of the southern region of Campania have been havens for the femminielli community for hundreds of years.

This story is a part of our magazine—The Queer Issue.

What if queer people aren’t the product of their own trauma—a broken part in an otherwise close-to-perfect system—but it’s actually the system that is broken, and queer people have merely found a way to thrive within it?

Imagine a space where all parts of your identity can be expressed, self-acceptance is encouraged, and a sense of community can be found. For queer Muslims, who often find themselves excluded at the crossroads of their multilayered identities, such spaces can provide an antidote to the discrimination and injustices they experience.

This story is a part of our magazine—The Queer Issue.

How a queer video game character made Edwin van de Scheur fall in love.

This story is a part of our magazine—The Queer Issue.

Fado Bicha defies fado’s traditions and brings lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex themes into the core of Portuguese traditional music. It’s queer because it’s not ashamed of showing itself: “Fado is rooted in four elements: melody, harmony, rhythm and lyrics. Its main role has always been to tell a story: about the city, about the joys and sorrows of love.

This story is a part of our magazine—The Queer Issue.

Best described as a “cant”—a form of language spoken by a group and that is unintelligible to outsiders—Polari was mostly spoken by British gay men until the mid-20th century. Consisting of around 500 words, it resembles a mixture of English with Cockney rhyming slang, Italian and Yiddish. Speakers used it for secrecy, to identify each other and for camp humour.

This story is a part of our magazine—The Queer Issue.

“Integration has nothing to do with learning the Chancellor’s name.”

Reflecting broader society, social spaces specifically conceived to welcome migrants and refugees are often marked by heteronormativity. Instead of finding a safe haven, queer migrants are once again forced to hide their sexual preferences and live in fear of being found out as they did back home.

This story is a part of our magazine—The Queer Issue.