An Analysis on Autonomous Feminist and Queer Safe Spaces: The Case Study of PHYL.IS. A.U.Th.

The greek students’ Union for gender and equality “PHYL.IS.” was created on a whim, during the lockdowns of 2020, as a way for us to express our anger, frustration and resentment of not being heard or seen in spaces we thought we had reclaimed. Our efforts to unite our voices with the voices of people who wish to participate in feminist and queer discourses and fight for equality have led to the construction of a space of sisterhood, solace and support in a time of uncertainty when it was most needed. During its three years of function, despite the difficulties we had and still have to overcome, PHYL.IS. has become a solid entity shaped by its members’ experiences. In turn, the Union is now shaping us, its members. Through all the challenges we faced due to the entrenched inequalities and hostile systemic structures that exist in Greece, through all the mistakes we made, the stories we shared, the assertations we fought for, we found support in places we never knew existed, and we were taught valuable lessons of feminist and queer resistance. This paper is an extended rendition of the roundtable we conducted in May 2023 during the QueerFemSEE International Conference in Athens, incorporating comments and observations. By using the case study of PHYL.IS., we aim to examine the creation and preservation of autonomous feminist and queer safe spaces that survive the adversities of functioning in conservative, heteronormative and patriarchal societies. Keywords: feminist collective, safe space, feminist practices, resistance practices, grassroot spaces

“The West Is (Not) the Best” – Anti-Gender Narratives and Queer-Feminist Struggles in Greece

The anti-gender narratives and policies that attack women's and LGBTQ+ rights (gender, sexual and reproductive freedoms) come largely from right-wing parties, conservative think tanks, far-right political organizations and alt-right networks, authoritarian governments, and representatives of the Catholic and the Orthodox Church. The paper highlights current anti-gender politics, including reactionary discourses, strategies, and multiple (institutional) actors that seek to undermine societal and legal progress for intersectional feminism and the LGBTQ+ movement. In this vein, it draws attention to the anti-gender arguments and the imports of the white (male) supremacy ideology in the Greek context. More thoroughly, the paper outlines, on the one hand, the anti-gender movement and the ways in which nature, nation, and normality construct its main narrative as it sheds light on the alt-right discourse, ethnopatriarchy, and the heteronormative standards within Greek society. On the other, the paper traces local queer-feminist struggles and activist practices that seek to resist the continuum of gender-based violence, homophobic/transphobic violence, systemic racism, and discrimination. Queer-feminist struggles gained strength and new perspectives in the aftermath of Zak Kostopoulos/Zackie Oh’s murder and the eruption of the #metoo movement, whereas new collective struggles for defending women's and LGBTQ+ rights take place against rising fascisms and the neoliberal control of reproduction. Keywords: anti-gender narratives, gender-based violence, queer-feminist struggles, vulnerability, dissident voices

«Нас не можна включити на ваших умовах»: квір-критика імперіалістичного погляду в «Гейкейшн: Україна»

Вступ до «розйобування» солідарності: квіримо пострадянські перспективи

Цей текст пропонує огляд основних питань, активістських і теоретичних концепцій, представлених у спецвипуску «Розйобана солідарність: квіримо пострадянські перспективи». Автор_ки досліджують можливості вживання терміна «квір» і квірних концепцій на пострадянських і постсоціалістичних просторах, використовуючи поняття «розйобувати» як критичний інструмент, аби підкреслити первинний непристойний потенціал «квіру» в англійській мові – потенціал порушення сформованого порядку. Автор_ки роздумують про можливості квір- і феміністичних солідарностей, що виходять за рамки розподілу на Схід і Захід, не потрапляючи в пастку західної вищості чи антизахідних настроїв. Детальніше представляючи концепцію квір-солідарності як «спільної роботи», автор_ки шукають можливість егалітарної взаємопідтримки, яка долає національні й культурні кордони. І, звичайно, вступ містить огляд критичних робіт, що ввійшли до цього спецвипуску. Публікаця також доступна англійською і російською мовою.