Queer Cyprus Association held “Is It Intersectionality? Where do we start” Thematic Discussion.

(Nicosia, 10/10/22) The second thematic discussion event that focuses on intersectionality, which is named as “Is It Intersectionality? Where do we start”, was held on the 10th of October 2022 at the Kaldi Cafe in collaboration with VOIS Cyprus within the scope of the Rainbow Project which is funded by the European Union under the Cypriot Civil Society in Action VII Grant Scheme and implemented by the Queer Cyprus Association.

“Intersectionality? Where do we start” thematic discussion event focused on the intersection of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, race, language, disability and culture, as well as the privilege and disadvantage aspects of this intersection. The event started with a short introduction. The event was moderated by human rights activists Annette Kiru ve Erman Dolmacı and facilitated by the Community Building Officer of the Rainbow Project, Ömür Ray.

Participants touched on what our initial identities were and how they differed from society to society in terms of culture. The discussion continued with the sharing of ideas on the diversity and breadth of our characteristics such as our sexual orientation and gender identities, as well as our ethnic origin, race, class, language we speak, and disability. Afterwards, the issue of intersectionality was discussed with examples from daily life experiences. It was emphasized that our experiences of discrimination could have multiple dimensions.

The moderators emphasized that discrimination experiences on the intersection of our many identities may deeply affect people at a micro level and cause people to feel more sad, depressed and stressed. In the discussion, the participants also shared important information about how groups with such experiences can protect themselves psychologically and how to deal with discrimination.