Where can an person read about Greek queer culture in English?
June 9, 2024 10:50 AM Subscribe
A friend's father was Greek, and they have a strong sense of Greek identity but only minimal Greek language skills. They regularly visit their Greek family but are nowhere close to fluent. We're both queer, and they do a lot of work in queer spaces here in the US. They are curious about what Greek queer culture is like (related to both sexual orientation and gender identity). However, they are having trouble finding information that is in English, or at least mostly in English. Any recommendations?
They are curious about what types of communities exist there, what challenges and supports people face on the ground living in Greece with those identities, and what are the key organizations and what those organizations are doing. But would be open to any other types of information or writing on the topic, including book recommendations (fiction or nonfiction).
At this point, their questions are mostly theoretical, but they sometimes consider moving back and wonder what it would be like to be a nonbinary/pan/poly person there. They would likely end up in Athens since that is where their family is.
They are curious about what types of communities exist there, what challenges and supports people face on the ground living in Greece with those identities, and what are the key organizations and what those organizations are doing. But would be open to any other types of information or writing on the topic, including book recommendations (fiction or nonfiction).
At this point, their questions are mostly theoretical, but they sometimes consider moving back and wonder what it would be like to be a nonbinary/pan/poly person there. They would likely end up in Athens since that is where their family is.
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An example: Greece tries to make up lost ground on LGBTQ+ rights (www.ekathimerini.com, May 31, 2022) quotes queer artist Sam Albatros, born in rural Greece; their debut novel, "Faulty Boy," focuses on "a gender nonconforming/queer child." The novel, which I'm only finding in Greek atm, has stage adaptations. They were awarded a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship in the Visual Arts in 2021. Albatros around the web: YouTube channel; Patreon (a mix of Greek and English — Albatros has "an MPhil in Psychology from University of Cambridge and a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from University College London"); queerpoets.com.
Equaldex chart for "LGBT Rights in Greece" and its directory of LGBT organizations in Greece.
2020 Data Survey Tool, for the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights LGBTI survey II (.pdf of country data for Greece)
The "LGBT Rights in Greece" overview on Wikipedia notes, "On 24 September 2023, Greek-American Stefanos Kasselakis, a former Goldman Sachs trader, unexpectedly won SYRIZA's leadership elections with a 56% of total votes, being the first member of the LGBT community and the Greek diaspora to ascend to the leadership of Greece's primary opposition party." English-language articles on Kasselakis (his husband is an American nurse) sometimes offer context for the current landscape in Greece.
Greece first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex marriage (Al Jazeera, Feb. 16, 2024).
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:40 PM on June 9 [4 favorites]