Analysis: Balkan far right using attacks on gay pride for political gain

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Source: riskandforecast.com

By Political Capital

The study of so-called radical rightist ideologies and politicians is receiving increasing public attention throughout Europe. In this context it is important to identify the diversity and internal divisions of these political movements.

In many respects the differences and similarities can be accurately described based on geographic location. Taking this model as a working hypothesis, in the coming months Political Capital will present the striking differences of the Western and Eastern versions of far right ideologies, with special emphasis on the social context, as well as the issues and topics constituting the organizational building blocks of the far right.

In our first study we analyze the position of the far right in respect to the gay rights movement with a special focus on Balkan countries aspiring to enter the European Union.

Fault lines running east and west

The massacre committed by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway appears to represent a watershed in thinking about far-right ideologies. Since the attack there has been a growing consensus among the European public the in the past decade Western decision-makers have been excessively preoccupied with Islam radicalism while they overlooked threats posed by the proliferation of extremist right-wing ideologies. Presumably, this is related to the relative integration of the radical right in Northern and West Europe; parties promoting such ideas have accommodated to democratic political institutions. In contrast, some countries in Southern and most in Eastern Europe present an altogether different picture.

In essence, the ideologies of the far right in the West and the East are essentially the inverses of each other. The Western and Eastern versions are both characterized by neo-populism, i.e., giving simplistic and provocative answers to socially divisive issues. However, those in the East are often also ‘neo-Fascists’ in the sense that in their self-definition and symbols they find inspiration in the political legacy of totalitarian regimes active in their respective countries between the two world wars.

The far right in Western Europe is characterized by shrill Islamophobia while it is not anti-Semitic, in contrast to the East European version that is strongly anti-Jewish for the most part and often pro-Muslim (see Hungarian Jobbik). When it comes to the state and the economy, most far-right movements in the West are neo-liberals, while their East European counterparts are advocates of a strong state. They also show significant differences when it comes to their attitudes toward minorities.

Discriminating policies of Westerners can be described as the intolerance of the tolerant (Cas Mudde), i.e., they are hostile to immigrants rejecting liberal values and violating the rights of, for instance, women and gays. While Breivik himself, according to his book, is rather hostile to gays, the organizations he refers to are typically more ‘homophile’ than homophobe.

In contrast, East Europeans are fundamentally intolerant of minorities, where the rejection of sexual minorities in but one typical case in point. In South-Eastern Europe most centrist parties are also hostile or ambivalent when it comes to this issue. Obviously this is a reflection of the social environment; in these countries the public is profoundly hostile to gays, demonstrated by its rejection of considering their public presence and rights as a public issue and the frequent atrocities accompanying gay parades.

The recognition of gay rights: tensions between internal and external requirements

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In Albania, violent attack on trans woman by police

Source: Pink Embassy

PINK Embassy/LGBT Pro Albania, an organisation that works for the protection of LGBT community in Albania, wishes to express its deep concerns for the latest case of extreme violence used against a member of the transgender community in Tirana, Albania.

On August 14, 2011 around 16:00 members of the State Police, accompanied by a private citizen, where investigating the theft of a necklace at the park near the Albanian Parliament. Amongst the people they were interviewing for the case was also a young man, who is friends with the transgender group, which lives by this park. When the police tried to detain the young man, they faced resistance by one of the transgender people called Paloma.

The reaction of the Police towards Paloma was extremely violent, crossing all boundaries of its lawful use. A group of six police officers, one of them a woman, used totally unjustified violence which based on international acts ratified by Albania, could be classified as degrading punishment and torture.

Afterwards, Paloma was taken in custody at the Tirana Police Authority, where violence against her continued until she was totally covered in blood and had fainted. To avoid any bruises on the head and face, she was forced to wear a helmet, while kicking and punching continued all over her body. PINK Embassy / LGBT PRO Albania are in possession of pictures that show scars and bruises on her body. The Police took Paloma at Mother Teresa National Hospital (QSUT), where she received immediate aid and was then taken back to the police headquarters of Tirana.

Throughout the entire detention, Paloma was not offered any legal assistance and was asked to sign documents without her consent. Paloma cannot read or write.

PINK Embassy calls on the Ministry of Interior and Albanian People’s Advocate to start an immediate investigation on the case and to bring to justice all the people in uniform who were involved in the torturing for endless hours a transgender person, putting her life in absolute danger.

For years, the transgender community in Albania has suffered from marginalization and social exclusion. The community lacks support from Tirana Municipality and central government institutions. It is not the first time that PINK Embassy/LGBT Pro Albania publicly denounces the violence and maltreatment of transgender people in Tirana by the Police. Even though during the last months there has been an improvement in the way transgender people were being treated by the Police, the latest case shows that they further need to improve their professionalism and work behavior.

Related articles

• New map of murders of transgender people around the world (madikazemi.blogspot.com) 
• Albania: reality TV programme prompts 'explosive debate' (madikazemi.blogspot.com) 
• In Albania, attack on trans people protested (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

In Albania, attack on trans people protested

By John Hodgson

The Albanian LGBT rights organisation Pink Embassy issued the following statement on 27 April 2011:

“Pink Embassy, an organization that works to protect the rights of LGBT community in Albania, would like to express its concern about an event that happened this morning,  when the lives  of five transgender people seriously was put at risk because the house where they were staying was set on fire by unknown persons.

“The transgender people were housed in an abandoned house in Durres Road, adjacent to the building of the former Yugoslav Embassy in Tirana. Around 4:30 am, they were being alerted by smoke and flames, which had blocked almost all entry-exit points of the house. In the same house lived a Roma family of seven members five of whom were minors.

“Although fortunately there were no casualties, the transgender community believes that the act of vandalism was committed by a group of homophobes, which should have previously identified their location. The police and firemen arrived on the scene immediately to extinguish the fire and give first aid to the victims. However, the Tirana Police Authority at the time of preparation of this statement had not issued any press release about the event.

“Hate crimes are severely punished throughout the civilized world and Albania cannot make an exception to this. The event in question shows once again that, while Albania has adopted the Law against Discrimination, the life and dignity of the trans-gender community continues not to be respected and put at risk.

“The fact that the Transgender community have not been provided, nor by the Municipality of Tirana or by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, with any opportunity for housing, employment and security, indicates that homophobia is rooted in the mentality of governance in Albania. This is unacceptable for us! The life and dignity of every transgender person is equal with that of every Albanian citizen!

“Taking into consideration this event, we would like to urge the Municipality of Tirana and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, to react against this act, while provide transgender community in the shortest possible way the completion of their minimum rights for security, housing and food. These rights expect an urgent response thus we expect immediate actions by the Albanian public institutions.

“Such episodes damage community life in particular and society in general. Human rights are equal for everyone.”

No reports of this incident or Pink Embassy’s protest have been observed in the Albanian Media, and no response by the Tirana Police has been noted.

Refugee surge forces Berlin camp to re-open

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Source: Monster and Critics

A surge of asylum seekers arriving from world trouble spots, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Iran, has forced Berlin authorities to re-open a huge refugee housing site.

Only recently, government officials had considered putting the 22,000-square-metre Marienfelde Refugee Camp up for sale.

The refugees stay in plain apartments in 10 centrally heated housing blocks. During the Cold War it was the first place to stay for people escaping communism while they were starting new lives.

Between 1949 and 1990, 1.35 million people passed through the camp. Even after democracy took hold in their homelands, eastern Europeans kept arriving, along with refugees from further away.

But in recent years, the numbers dwindled and a decision was taken to close the camp. But its closure a year ago proved premature and the camp has now been re-activated. Some 125 refugees have shown up at the Marienfelde camp in the past two weeks.

Hundreds more are anticipated in the coming months.

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Happy new year - a look back and a look forward

By Paul Canning

LGBT Asylum News wishes a happy, safe and prosperous 2011 to all our readers.

In 2010 we published about a thousand posts, including 29 'action alerts'. Our daily average number of posts has gone up from about two to about four and they were viewed on the website about 110,000 times. You came from 191 countries, read, on average, one and a half pages and spent about two and a half minutes on the website. A quarter of you have visited and come back.

Our most popular content in 2010 was:

Kiana in a scene from the film 'Cul de Sac'

Iranian lesbian makes her appeal against removal by UK authorities
The story of Iranian lesbian asylum seeker Kiana Firouz, which we broke in April, attracted attention like no LGBT asylum case since that of another Iranian, Mehdi Kazemi. A petition for her drew an astonishing 45,000 signatures. In June, very quickly after a new asylum case was put to the UK Home Office, she won asylum.

Albania: reality TV programme prompts 'explosive debate' 
In March, reader John Hodgson gave us the story of Klodian Çela, an Albanian Big Brother contestant whose coming out on the show had prompted 'riots' in one town (there were claims the 'riots' were orchestrated for publicity). The story we broke was later raised by none other than Hillary Clinton as an example of homophobia in Albania during a speech to mark LGBT History Month in June!

Did X Factor 'out' a gay asylum seeker, putting him in danger?
In July we followed up on a story broken by Lesbian and Gay Foundation in Manchester of Zac, a teenage asylum seeker from the United Arab Emirates. Zac's story had appeared without his consent in the popular British tabloid newspaper The Sun - potentially exposing him to danger if he was returned. At year's end, Zac's claim for asylum has still not be settled

Iranian LGBT: Persecuted, harassed, raped, tortured, threatened with death, forced into operations
Our March post which collated testimony from Iranian transgender people, lesbians and gay men has proved popular throughout the year. Last month we published an in-depth analysis of the first report by a major NGO on the plight of Iranian LGBT.

Austria deports African gay footballer
In May we reported on Cletus B, a gay Nigerian deported by Austria. His case attracted mass support including a big demonstration in Vienna, but the authorities ignored the protests. In June a follow up report, Nigerian gay footballer deported by Austria has gone underground; Austrian police charge his counsellor with 'promoting an illegal stay', also proved popular. This story happened because of another reader, Heinz Leitner in Vienna.

In the US, two new strategies for same-sex binational couples
In November our republishing of a post by the American activist group Out4Immigration drew a lot of links and referrals from email. It looked at new ideas for changing the situation of same-sex couples facing the bald choice of having to leave America to stay together or be split apart.

In Colombia, at least ten LGBT 'cleansed' in one week
In September we reported via Argentina's AG Magazine that a wave of killings of gays had hit Northern Colombia. Although this report drew links from a few American LGBT news sources, shamefully these killings were not more widely reported.

Big victory for USA in fresh United Nations 'gay killings' vote
Last month we 'live blogged' the sensational outcome of an American move to reverse a UN vote on excluding sexual orientation in a resolution on extrajudicial killings. We were the first to post the result and the only news outlet to analyze the vote in depth, showing the massive and possibly game-changing vote by African, Caribbean and Pacific Island countries.

Damning report says practically all UK LGBT asylum claims are being refused; Border Agency "cruel and discriminatory"
In March we looked at a new report by UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG) which examined 50 LGBT asylum cases and found that nearly all had been turned down by British authorities. It also documented the then Home Office policy of 'go home and be discrete'. This report later informed Stonewall's 'No Going Back' report, released in May. In June came the historic Supreme Court decision which put an end to the 'go home and be discrete' policy.

Here's a Wordle showing the commonest words on LGBT Asylum News:

Our Twitter account, opened in September 2009, was almost at 2,000 followers at year's end and is now on 161 other 'Twitterers' lists. And we have 277 'likes' for our Facebook page - Facebook has proved an increasing source for referrals to the website in 2010.

We added 17 uploads to our YouTube channel, which we started in March, and 166 Favorites. Our video and audio has been viewed over 4000 times with In Phnom Penh, the amazing work of a 70-year-old transgender sex worker by far the most popular upload.

On the document sharing service Scribd, we've put 47 documents and these have been read over 13,000 times.

Content views by email last week

375 of you subscribe to the website by email and views of posts by this route now average over 1,000 per day - interestingly the content viewed this way is always very different to that viewed on the web. Our content also circulates widely via republishing on other websites as well as via web services like FriendFeed.

Our content has been widely picked up and repurposed by other news outlets - most notably by pinknews.co.uk, LezGetReal and the San Diego Gay and Lesbian News and later in the year by Pink Paper. We've had consistent links from the major US LGBT news outlet Towleroad, which has drawn in a huge new audience for the website.

We'd like to thank all those who have linked to, republished, 'liked' and retweeted our stories in 2010!

We'd also like to thank all those who have contributed to the website whether through their own posts or through suggesting stories or through helping with translations. We are always looking for help with translations so please let us know if you're able to help here.

Early in 2011 there will be major, exciting changes to the website. These will embed and make sustainable our goal of 'documenting the situations in countries from which LGBT people are fleeing to the UK hoping for a safe haven and the problems they can face from the UK asylum system' - and make this truly international. It will also provide a new way for our readers to talk to each other and for LGBT asylum advocates, lawyers, refugees and refugee workers to work together.

Keep watching this space! (And please give us your feedback by email or in the comments below!)

Tension over Europe's gay rights role

Image via Wikipedia  

Source: euobserver.com

By Andrew Willis

Gay rights organisations openly acknowledge the crucial role played by European institutions in securing recent advances in the area, but concerns over top-down decision making and rising bureaucracy tell a more nuanced backstory.

Delegates at the 14th ILGA-Europe annual conference in The Hague on Thursday (28 October) also expressed fears over growing social conservatism in a post-recession Europe, and pointed to the recent Roma debacle as highlighting divergences between EU legislation and implementation on the ground.

ILGA co-chairs Linda Freimane and Martin Christensen were speaking at the body's 14th annual meeting in The Hague.

"This year's pride marches have been success stories ... despite confrontations," said Linda Freimane, co-chair of the international umbrella group which represents over 300 lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex organisations.

A Council of Europe recommendation agreed in March was also widely heralded as an important new tool for activists fighting discrimination linked to sexual orientation or gender identity.

The European Court of Human Rights referred to the non-binding text in a landmark decision this October when it ruled against Moscow's decision to ban gay pride marches in recent years.

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Albania: reality TV programme prompts 'explosive debate'

Souces Shekulli.com.al, Korrieri, Panorama.com.al


By John Hodgson

The Tirana newspaper Korrieri on 21 March stated that “explosive debate and discussion has broken out everywhere” in Albania over the “Klodi case.” The furore was sparked off by an emotional declaration on television by Klodian Çela from Lezhë, an inmate of the Big Brother house on the Top Channel reality TV programme, who announced that he is homosexual and called for understanding from everybody, especially his mother.

On 11 March demonstrators on the streets of Lezhë protested, “Lezha is clean – we have no homosexuals” and demanded Klodi’s removal from the Big Brother house.

The case has prompted intense discussion in the national media. Human rights activist Kristi Pinderi, interviewed in Korrieri on 21 March, said:

“Whether we like it or not, an important chapter in the history of human rights in Albania will be linked to Klodi’s name. We don’t understand this right now, because of prejudice and decades and centuries of repression, but we are living through some days, weeks and months and no doubt years in which this history will be written.”

Asked why Albania is traditionally “allergic” to homosexuality, Pinderi said that “Albania is less allergic to homosexuality than ill-informed about it. This is because Albania is ill-informed about sexuality in general.” Pinderi goes on to say that “We know perfectly well” that homosexual men and women are present throughout Albanian society, and have achieved distinction in every possible field.

Asked what Klodi has gained and what he has lost by his dramatic coming-out on television, Pinderi replied:

“He has lost nothing. He has gained the right to live in freedom, which is something that the four-million-odd Albanians counted in the last national census have been unable to do. The problem is not now with Klodi, because he has solved his ‘problem’ himself. The question is now whether we four million Albanians will solve this ‘problem’ and the many other ‘problems’ of our identity and integrity. Will all the rest of us be able to become as free as he is?”

Korrieri also carried an interview with a 48-year-old gay man from Tirana called Erion, who describes the life of Albanian homosexuals out of the media spotlight. Erion’s experience spans two eras, the communist past and the last 20 years of a democratic society:

"Before the 90s, under the communist regime, it was totally terrifying even to think of yourself saying, ‘I am homosexual’, because this earned not just moral disapproval but punishment under the law. You could be sentenced to seven to ten years. You had to keep it secret."

Erion saved himself from the communist prisons, but has not saved himself from secrecy, fear, and the discrimination he still encounters in post-communist Albanian society.

"I would never have thought that 20 years later homosexuals would still be living in secret, still scared. Some are liable even to suicide. In the last year there have been three suicides because people have been outlawed by society and their families. This shows clearly what the situation in Albania is like," he said.

"Discrimination against homosexuals in Tirana is neither sophisticated nor secret. It is open in public places and at work, and it is vicious. I have been present when homosexuals have been abused in public places, beaten up in the most bestial fashion. The police not only do not protect homosexuals but beat them up themselves."

So Erion keeps his homosexuality secret. He has to conceal his sexuality from society and from his family, although he does not feel guilty about it. However, one change has arrived for Albanian homosexuals, these ‘blameless sinners’.

The Law Against Discrimination comes into effect this month. The Law has come as an initiative of civil society and has been drawn up with the cooperation of international experts. For Erion, it is a positive step, but not enough to stop discrimination and to change the homophobia of Albanian society.

"The law was approved just to keep in line with our international partners and to fulfil the conditions for EU entry. I don’t think this law will be enforced, because society is aggressive, and not even the authorities themselves feel persuaded of the need to protect the rights of homosexuals.” 

However, Erion has no intention of moving abroad.

“I want to make a contribution here in Albania, so that real changes for the protection of homosexuals come about, not just legal ones. I hope that if we talk again in a few years time, I won’t be able to believe the things I have told you, because we deserve our place in society.”

Meanwhile, despite the protests in Klodi’s home town, television viewers throughout Albania voted on 20 March to keep Klodi in the Big Brother house, to the “deep despair” of one contributor to Korrieri’s online message board.

“Even though they had the chance to remove from the house the self-proclaimed homosexual Klodi, they did not do this… They voted to kick out a fine and healthy young man because he was young and got excited and said he would cut off homosexuals’ heads on a table.”

• Albania: 400 join homophobic street protests against Big Brother contestant

Albania: 400 join homophobic street protests against Big Brother contestant

Souces Shekulli.com.al, Korrieri, Panorama.com.al

by John Hodgson

According to the Tirana newspaper Shekulli, 400 people, mainly young men, took to the streets in the northern town of Lezhë on 11 March, protesting “Lezhë is clean – we have no homosexuals.” This was the second demonstration in the town against “the Klodi case”, after an emotional declaration on television by Klodian Çela, from Lezhë, an inmate of the Big Brother house on the Top Channel reality TV programme, that he is homosexual and calling for understanding from everybody, especially his mother.

The protesters in Lezhë demonstrated in the town’s main square, shouting “Klodi out, out,” and insisted that if he is not removed from the Big Brother house, they will step up their protests and continue them in Tirana. According to Shekulli, the protesters “felt compelled to defend the honour of their town and its long-standing traditions.”

Their slogans included, “Lezhë does not deserve the stain of homosexuality” and “Klodi has tarred the civilized reputation of Lezhë.” One demonstrator was quoted as saying that if a condition for Albania’s entrance to the EU is a law permitting homosexuality, he would rather the country did not join the EU at all.

The Tirana-based Alliance Against LGBT Discrimination has responded with a media statement describing the protests as a “witch hunt”, and finding them “laughable but above all saddening.” The Alliance states that the protesters “would do better to think how they will be educated, how they will find work, and how they will grow up healthy in a society whose backwardness leads to such savagery and discrimination.”

In its statement, the Alliance points out that:

“Many of the young people we have seen on the streets of Lezhë will have lived in fear on the streets of Italy or Greece, marginalised, discriminated, without money or dignity. Unfortunately, many of these young men end up performing sexual services for money and become prostitutes.

When they return to Albania, they try to avoid talking about such things which put them in a tough psychological position.” 

The Alliance reminds the police of Lezhë that such protests are illegal under the Albanian Constitution and the Law for Protection Against Discrimination, which penalizes behaviour that incites violence and hatred.

Read more »

Transvestite Murder Prompts Accusation

Image by morgantj via Flickr

Source: balkaninsight.com

By Besar Likmeta

The Alliance Against Discrimination towards LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) is accusing Albanian police of lacking commitment to solving the murder of a transvestite on Saturday.

The victim, 38-year-old Petrit Lucaj, also known as Kristina, was stabbed to death on Abdi Toptani Street, only a few metres away from the Interior Ministry.

The victim, who media reports say had previously been arrested for prostitution, was stabbed in the neck in an abandoned building and died en route to Tirana’s hospital due to blood loss.

“We call on authorities to quickly shed light on this murder, which happened in front of the eyes of the police and in the heart of the capital,” the rights group said in a statement.

“It’s intolerable that though the [LGBT] community is always in front of the police [eyes], nothing is done to protect them from abuse, and now murder,” the statement added.

Albania's state police spokesperson was not immediately reachable for comment on Monday.

It is not clear if the murder was a hate crime or had another motives. Police sources say that a number of people, known to frequent the area, have been questioned.

The Secret Life of Kosovo’s Gay Community

Source: balkaninsight.com

By Shega A'Mula

As Albania prepares to legalise gay marriage, Kosovo’s government says such a move is not even on the radar.

Arian is an attractive young man who lives in Prishtina. His phone rings during our coffee break and he insists he must take it, since it is his partner. However, most do not know that his partner is a man.

“Sorry, he gets mad when I don’t pick up, you know the way relationships go,” he says.

Young men and woman constantly stroll down the streets hand in hand, share intimate dinners in the city’s many restaurants, and openly flirt in the bars and cafes. But when Arian goes out for a drink with his boyfriend they appear just friends - homosexuality remains a taboo in Kosovo.

“Our religion outlaws homosexuality, and extremists beat gays. I’ve been physically and emotionally abused so I keep the fact that I am gay to myself,” Arian says.

With the Albanian government’s latest proposal for legalising same-sex marriages, and gay pride cancelled in Belgrade this weekend, gay rights have become a hot topic across the Balkans. But the debate has been strangely muted in Kosovo.

And the government has no plans to open up the issue. Government spokesperson Memli Krasniqi told Balkan Insight that this issue doesn’t fall into the government’s current or even future priorities.

“This issue is not relevant in Kosovo’s social context. It does not exist as a primary, secondary or tertiary issue to focus on. It is not in the government’s margins of importance, unless we consider looking at the law on marriage,” he said.

As far as gay rights are concerned, Krasniqi said that “the government supports the law against discrimination, which includes discrimination against them”.

However, Arber Nuhiu from the human rights organisation Elysium, which protects the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals, told Balkan Insight that despite the law against discrimination, many gay men and lesbians face abuse and prejudice.

“The constitution, thankfully, has a law against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, but the government does not directly support or fund this cause. They haven’t financially supported our organisation at all,” he said.

Sabrie Kamberi, an official from Kosovo Police’s information office, told Balkan Insight that there have been cases involving physical abuse reported to them.

“Every so often we have cases of violence against homosexual individuals. But we do assure them that they are offered the same protection as any other citizen, and we support the rights that they have,” she said.

The fear of violence and discrimination that the gay community lives with, the vast majority of the LGBT community interviewed by Balkan Insight said they chose not to disclose their sexual orientation.

The only time they revealed their sexual orientation was at private parties, organised by close friends or the Elysium organisation.

“I can reveal that I am gay only at parties organised by Elysium or behind closed doors atother private gatherings and parties,” admitted Arian.

Nuhiu stated that Elysium is the only organisation in the country that directly provides support to lesbians and gay men.

“We organise small parties, and we have a drop-in centre…where gay people can feel free to talk about their problems and be open about their feelings,” he said, adding that there were no gay bars or clubs anywhere in the country.

“Elysium is an environment where they can connect, make friends and sometimes begin a relationship,” he added.

Nuhiu admits that very few women come to the drop-in centre, something he blames on the inequality between genders in the Kosovo.

“Lesbians are more hidden because of double discrimination. Society already discriminates against them because of their gender, let alone their sexual orientation,” he said.

Vlora, a young bisexual from Prishtina, has experienced this double discrimination. Vlora is currently dating a man she says she cares about, but she admits that if she could, she would be with a woman.

“I feel like society forces me to date men, even though I get butterflies in my stomach when an attractive women passes by, I can’t help it,” she said.

When Vlora has told people about her sexual orientation, they have often used it against her.
“People think I just want to be interesting and seem sexier to men if I’m with a woman, or they think I’m into threesomes and all I want to do is experiment,” she explained.

She has accepted that prejudice means cannot live an open lesbian life in Pristina.

“I imagine falling in love with a girl, but when I know that I can’t hold her hand or kiss her and say ‘this is my girl!’, I try to avoid it,” she said, adding that although she considers herself a lesbian, she is forced to be a bisexual in order to date men, and be perceived as normal.

“I have many friends I’ve met at Elysium, but not one of them is openly gay. I don’t know one person who admits that they are gay to anyone other than their close friends,” she said.

It seems that much work remains to be done before people in this marginalised community feel comfortable revealing their true identity.

The names used in this story have been changed to protect the identity of those interviewed.