Queering the Perspective

Today I'm talking to Lilith Raza who is a trans* rights activist with migration background. She has been campaigning for the rights of LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers in Germany since 2015. Since November 2017 she has been working for the German-wide LSVD e.V project "Queer Refugees Deutschland".

In this episode we talk about how queer refugees have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. From her perspective as an activist and advocate, Lilith explains the ways in which the pandemic has revealed and exacerbated social inequalities (in Germany) and structural systems of oppression which queer refugees experience in an intensified manner due to their intersecting identities.  

This conversation was initiated as part of my bachelor thesis on analyzing the "narrative of solidarity" in Germany during the first wave of Covid-19 (March-June 2020) from the perspective of queer refugees. If anyone is interested to read it, feel free to message me :)

if you would like to support this podcast you can now become a member via Steady or donate directly to me via paypal: [email protected] and as always

feel free to reach out if you have any feedback, questions, suggestions for future topics/guests via Instagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected] 

I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the journey to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories. Thanks for being here

Today I'm talking to Puck (she/her) who is a self-described badass active old girl about Pride and why Pride must still be a protest in the context of the Netherlands as well as LGBT* movements globally

While there are many many reasons for pride still needing to be a protest a few ones that speak about are: the origins of pride, the efforts to decriminalize queerness, rainbow capitalism, pinkwashing, gay racism and public display of queer resistance

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH AND HAPPY QUEER LIBERATION

Some links for further reference:

The stonewall riots by Drunk History

Documentary: The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson which also draws many parallels to violence again trans* feminine people today.

Short Documentary: Stonewall Forever by the NYC LGBT* community center

if you would like to support this podcast you can now become a member via Steady or donate directly to me via paypal: [email protected] and as always

feel free to reach out if you have any feedback, questions, suggestions for future topics/guests via Instagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected]

I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the journey to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories. Thanks for being here

Today I'm talking to The Darvish (he/she/they) who is a Syrian self-tought performance artist, cultural events and performance parties organizer as well as creative & artistic assistant director. Most recently the Darvish premiered in a Contemporary Dance & Theater piece with Israeli Choreographer Nir De Volff titeled 'Come As Your ARE #2' .

In this episode we speak about "femme", a non-normative version of femininity existing outside of patriarchal control which can be embodied by everyone regardless of their gender identity. A form of femininity refusing to be subjugated by the male gaze and instead celebrating the magic of femininity existing on one's own terms. Embracing their femme personality visibly in public, the Darvish also addresses femmephobia (violence that femmes experience based on misogyny).

What shines through the whole episode is their deep believe in "femme power" and the necessity to cherish femme people in every sphere of life. One concrete example of this is Berlin biggest solidarity party series with trans*/queer refugee performers which the Darvish co-hosts and co-organizest called Queens Against Borders (IG: @queensxborders) . The project aims to build a bridge between the LGBT+ SWANA (South West Asia/ North Africa) community and established Berlin artists.

One more link I would like to share regarding this topic is the poetry collection "femme in public" by the wonderful artist and gender studies scholar Alok Vaid-Menon .

if you would like to support this podcast you can now become a member via Steady or donate directly to me via paypal: [email protected] and as always

feel free to reach out if you have any feedback, questions, suggestions for future topic viaInstagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected]

I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the journey to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories. Thanks for being here

Today I'm talking to Amaia (she/her) who is currently finishing her degree in Human Sexuality. After that she plans on moving back to Barcelona and contributing to the Queering of Sex Education in the city. She is passionate about deconstructing oppressive societal norms, community building, squatting and flamenco!

In this episode we address the heteronormative and patriarchal underpinning of most forms of sex education today. When talking about ways of improving sex education we speak about the female orgasm gap, the stigmatization of STI's, male contraception and (surprinsingly ;) the gender binary and why it is harmful to EVERYONE

Here are the links that Amaia mentions during our talk:

Queering Sex Ed Initiative

blog by queer relationship coach Inna about polyamorie

Male Contraception

if you would like to support this podcast you can now become a member via Steady or donate directly to me via paypal: [email protected] and as always

feel free to reach out via Instagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected]

I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the journey to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories. Thanks for being here

Today I'm talking to Steph (they/them) who is a law master’s student, currently studying at Maastricht university. Their interests lie in human rights, LGBTQI + rights and disability advocacy and they have been active in queer and feminist circles in Maastricht, organising queer dinners and participating in local activism. As a neurodiverse person themself, raising awareness about disability and the various ways in which accessibility is not always granted for people with visible or invisible disabilities is very close to heart to them.

In this podcast we speak about ableism, structural inequalities, housing accessibility, disability within education as well as internalized discrimination, normativity and how to advocate for people with disabilities as a neurotypical/able-bodied person. And speaking of accessibility, send me a message if you would like a written transcript of the podcast, I can gladly send it over

For further interest here are some more resources around disability, intersectionality and inclusivity:

Crip Camp (2020) Netflix documentary

- ‘oops, you did an ableism!’ (Video) by Jessica Kellgren–Fozard

I am not your inspiration, thank you

What it means to be black disabled women navigating sex (Article) by The Tripple Cripples

if you would like to support this podcast you can now become a member via Steady or donate directly to me via paypal: [email protected] and as always

feel free to reach out via Instagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected]

I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the quest to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories. Thanks for being here and have a wonderful day

In this sixth episode of “Queering the Perspective” I’m talking with Mara (she/her) who is currently doing a Masters degree in Transnational Queer Feminist Politics at SOAS London. She spends her free time in thinking about how to build a queer-feminist world.

A queer-feminist world without capitalism & commodification. In light of this dream, we talk about the connection between queerness and neo-liberal capitalism. Mara and I address how queer identities are used as a marketing strategy without benefiting most queer people, how capitalism continuously increases global inequalities while simultaneously harming most non-normative identities as well as the hypocrisy and the audacity of neo-liberal politics in fighting “the war on terror” in the name of queer liberation and gender equality. Throughout this whole episode we keep coming to the same conclusion: QUEERNESS MUST BE ANTI-CAPITALIST

If you want to click a bit further, here is a super informative video by Shon Feye about Gay Pride & Capitalism

Thanks for being here and I hope you enjoy this convo 😊

I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the quest to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories (:

if you have any questions or feedback please feel free to reach out to me via

Instagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected]

5th episode hiiiiiiiiiii. Today I'm talking with Halfdan who is a Copenhagen quee(r/n) with a passion for parties, safe spaces and radical self-expression for and of queers. Coming out as gay in a place where there were no visible queers, Halfdan has since been curious about different kinds of queer communities.

In this episode we are talking about the necessity for queer communities to create a sense of belonging which you do not receive in a cis-heteronormative society as well as safe spaces and inclusivity within the queer community.

Hope you enjoyy

I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the quest to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories (:

if you have any questions or feedback please feel free to reach out to me via

Instagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected]

Dear Ladies and Gentlethems, welcome to this fourth episode of the podcast! Today I’m talking about white feminism with Diane Ngatchou who is a devoted afro feminist with Cameroonian roots and advocates for social justice in different organization in Maastricht and Brussels.

In our talk we address the racist origins of the feminist movement and unpack white feminism as being nothing less than white supremacy . Consequently, Diane explains why therefore intersectionality is such an important conceptual tool for the feminist struggle. To move from the talking to the doing, we speak about her activism with the Feminists of Maastricht which she is a board member of.

Whereever you are listening from, support and uplift the womxn in your life and smash the patriarchy, day after day !!

and if you are in Maastricht, join the WOMXN'S DAY MARCH next sunday March 7th, 3pm @the vrijthof

if you have any feedback or suggestions for topics for future episode, please reach out to me via Instagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected]

Today I am talking with Nour who is an allumni of the University College Maastricht and now based in Brussels.

Being a Queer person of color, Nour speaks about her relation to her own sexuality, gender, as well as race and how binary understandings of these identity categories are long obsolete as the reality is far more complex than that. She describes how looking beyond one binary has triggered other forms of challenging and deconstructing who she was "supposed to be" and instead come closer to her authentic, multi-layered self. 

I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the quest to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories (:

Hope you enjoy this third episode of the podcast and as always if you have any questions or feedback please feel free to reach out to me via

Instagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected]

In this second episode, Noely, my dear bestie from Berlin & I  discuss bisexuality. Being a bisexual woman herself, Noely first talks  about her suppression of this identity growing up in a society that  still assumes heterosexuality unquestioned. We discuss these struggles  of hers through Butlers’ concept of “the heterosexual matrix” which I  follow up by explaining my relation to sexual orientation as a  non-binary person. Towards the end we turn towards the male gaze on  bisexual women as well as visibility of different identities within the  queer communities because...

QUEERNESS doesn’t mean liberation for white, masculine, gay cis-men only !

Let’s empower the minorities within minorities – in our queer spaces, discourses and activism

& I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the quest to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories. Come join me. If you have feedback or suggestions for future topics, please reach out via

Instagram Facebook or e-mail: [email protected]