“Every time I leave my house, the 'war mode' is turned on”. This quote describes precisely the state of mind in which I grew up. This is exactly what led me to the active fight for the protection of human rights in my home country of Greece, all across the European Union (EU) and of course, the world as a whole. My fight is to ensure that children, teenagers and adults alike will no longer feel insecure for being and expressing who they really are, and to create a safe haven so that no one will ever feel threatened by another human being.
The EU may have made leaps towards respecting and protecting human rights, but many of the member states still have a long way to go before being on the same level. The Greek state and society are illustrative of this. A long tradition of virtually institutionalised homophobia, racism, patriarchy, sexism, transphobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, bigotry and theocracy have made us feel like there is still a considerable mountain to climb.
Things change however, and human rights defenders come to the front line more and more.
Now let me share a personal story that brought me to the forefront of the defence of human rights in Greece. On 26 July 2014, at approximately 22:40 in downtown Athens (close to the Acropolis), my fiancé at the time and I were victims of a homophobic attack by some police officers while walking hand-in-hand. The issue received massive public attention and was brought to the parliament. The administration handled the incident incredibly awkwardly and the police had to be pushed by the justice system to do their job properly.
The case has been filed indefinitely and we have no idea when the State Prosecutor is going to push forward the prosecution of the police officers. All the while we are facing the threat of a counter lawsuit.
Homophobic and transphobic attacks like this happen almost daily (from bullying at school to institutionalised attacks by some officials), and while my case was one of the very few filed as an official lawsuit with personal data, there are many other cases (anonymous and otherwise) that I am helping record in various capacities so that we can lobby the state administration and bring about positive change.
Even though Greek society is rapidly progressing towards respect and tolerance, the State is going both backwards and forwards. Bullying at school still needs to be tackled; psychological, verbal and physical violence in many families and on the streets has not been properly dealt with; the neo-Nazi party is securing its presence; and institutionalised violence by some media figures, parts of the judicial sector, and some police officers and MPs is still abundant. Furthermore, the ultra-orthodox, extreme, right-wing party Anexartiti Elines has once again joined the coalition, which makes us wonder to what extent the ‘leftist’ majority will satisfy our demands. These demands are for a separation of Church and State, the end of conscription, marriage and civil union equality, securing self-declarative gender recognition, and overall justice. As long as inequality and violence continues to be prevalent, even if the incidents are lower than in previous years, our job will be to continue challenging and demanding action at every level – local, the State, our Union and the world.
My fight is to ensure that children, teenagers and adults alike will no longer feel insecure for being and expressing who they really are, and to create a safe haven so that no one will ever feel threatened by another human being.
