HRC IS NOT YOUR FRIEND-- CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

SEND SUBMISSIONS TO: anarchoqueer@gmail.com
AND PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

As Radical Queers, we are in a constant war against the HRC. Our frustrations run much deeper than ENDA or any other single issue. However, I have often found myself unable to substantiate my frustrations when talking with more mainstream "LGBT" folks. So, me and a friend are planning to compile and edit a zine on why we hate the HRC. We are looking for more radical perspectives written in a language that would be accessible to more mainstream "LGBT" folks.

Talking points could/should include, but are not limited to:

Racism, Classism, Assimilation, Militarism/Imperialism, Transphobia, The Prison-Industrial Complex, The Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Immigration as a Queer Issue, Public Sex/Sexuality and Pleasure (and how the HRC tries to hide that as a part of our identities), The culture of respectability, Healthcare.

Or maybe, even more fundamentally, why there are no "separate issues."

We would also be interested in writings on things people have done, actions that have been taken against the HRC, and why we don't need the HRC. (We can do this shit ourselves!)

Remember, the intended audience is mainstream "LGBT" folks who aren't already radical-- this is an attempt to radicalize them!-- so please make sure submissions are written in a way that will make sense to these folks. (I.e. don't assume somebody knows what the prison industrial complex is or why we don't like it.)

PLEASE EMAIL SUBMISSIONS, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS TO: anarchoqueer@gmail.com.

AND PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

Thanks!

Solidarity and Sodomy,
~Saffo

Tonsillitis

So I've had a tonsil infection for the last week or so. I'm hoping it's finally starting to get better. I suppose this is what I get for getting shitfaced and making out with a shit-ton of people @ ida. You know, I have a habit of getting tonsil infections when I travel. I really need to stop doing that. I went to the emergency room and the doctors told me it was viral and there's nothing they can do about it. I'm not sure I believe them. I think I'm getting better, though. We'll see.

Anyway, I've been really feeling the need to write more lately. I haven't had much consistent internet access, but I'm hoping sometime soon to write some more of my thoughts here. There's a lot going through my head, in terms of politics and such, but I haven't had much of a chance to write anything down or to really form any coherent thoughts.

The idea occurred to me that I wanna try and get published. Like, write a book about my politics. People do that all the time! I should start working on it. I think I want the front image to be a picture of a police line guarding a pride parade from some radical queers. Anyone seen any images like that? I'm sure it's out there.

Anyway, Denver's cool. Helped out with food not bombs today. Itching to leave, but Pride is this weekend, 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF STONEWALL!

QUEERS DON'T DENY IT-- STONEWALL WAS A RIOT!!!!!!

Tennessee

So I'm at Ida, helping set up for Idapalooza. I've been here for almost a week. Got a ride here with a bunch of people coming from Bash Back!. My first couple days here I had to withdraw away from everybody. There was so much shit that happened at Bash Back! and so little time to process. There was a whole shit-storm over this "action" that happened, with a whole bunch of holier-than-thou self-righteous macho anarchists and shit. Almost got arrested.

Anyway, this is my first chance to get on the internet since I've been here. Won't be back on here for a while probably. Wish I had more to put my thoughts together about shit but kinda overwhelemed.

It's fucking humid out here. I can't wait to go back west where there's no humidity. Gonna hop back to Denver after this, hopefully. Maybe I'll be hitching across the country for my birthday!

Much Love,
~Saffo

New Blog Entry

Okay it's time for me to write another blog entry. But what to write about?

Let's see... what's on my mind...

I left the farm. Spent the weekend with my family, which was... intense. Got to see my brother's play, which was awesome. I got back into the bay today (tuesday.) It was funny to think that it had only been a weekend that I spent with my mom in Palo Alto. It felt like weeks had gone by.

Anyway, tomorrow I head off for Denver. I'm really excited. Like, really really really excited. I think I like Colorado. I passed thru there going to the rainbow gathering last summer and definitely felt that I would be coming back there.

I've got a lot circling through my head since this weekend about me and my family and all this shit that I can't really put to words. Without going into too much, basically there's a lot of shit that I need to sort out and need to put to words sooner rather than later if I'm not going to fall off the deep end. Shit about my childhood and the way I was raised and my relationship with my parents that's just not resolved.

I feel like I'm running away from my own past. That the last five or six years or so have just been me trying to run away from who I used to be and the situation that I was in living with my parents. And I still haven't recovered.

That's all for now.

In The Closet

WOW, I'm on a dial-up connection. I can't remember the last time I've been on such a slow internet connection, lol.

So I am working on a farm in California. This is my first job I've been able to find since... way too long. I'm not out as trans here, and people have been calling me 'he'. It's really frustrating. I keep wanting to come out but I... don't. I just don't know how it would go over. Maybe I can just pass for the next month or so while I'm here.

I have been wearing girl clothes back-and-forth since I've been here. 'Course, it's hard to put a lot into my appearance when I'm digging around in the dirt all day doing farm work.

It's been real nice getting some serious solitude, tho. My favorite part of the day is at night when I just hang out by myself in my trailer. (Yes, I'm living in a trailer. I love living in trailers.) I just hang out and read. I guess you'd have to experience it to understand.

Anyway, this is the first time I use the internet in a week, since I've been here. And it's really fucking slow. It's nnice being totally cut off from the world and what the hell'z going on.

Well, that's it for now.
XOXO
~Saffo

Farm Life

So I've been in San Francisco for the past week. I thought I'd just stop by here for a bit, but I've been here for a week, trying to find a ride out. I'm going to go work on a farm tomorrow. I finally gave up on trying to find a rideshare since nobody's going the direction I'm going. Anyway, I've been staying at my friend's place for about a week, which is awesome. I think a week is just about the right amount of time to stay in a place when you don't really have anything to do there.

I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge the other day, that was fun. I was talking with my friend who lives here, cuz he said he's never been to the bridge. It's just one of those things-- like, most of the people I've met who live in Athens have never been to the Acropolis. Or who in New York has ever been to the Empire State Building or, god forbid, the Statue of Liberty?

But the Golden Gate Bridge really is pretty fucking beautiful. Even more beautiful, though, is the path up to it through the Presidio, and all the old military stuff around there. San Francisco, as far as big cities go, is pretty fucking beautiful.

But I'm psyched to get off to a farm. I've been spending too much money here and I'm excited to finally get to a job, even though it's not going to pay much at all.

Anyway, what I'm *really* psyched for is this summer, when I go to Bash Back! and then Idapalloza and then hitch across the country. That's going to be awesome.

Cheers,
~Saffo

Blue Eyes

You don't see a lot of Greek people with blond hair and blue eyes. When I go to Greece, people always ask me if I'm German, or Sweedish, or Dutch, or... I once even had someone just walk up to me and start speaking German. I tend to surprise people when I walk into a shop and start ordering things in Greek. The interaction is usually pretty humorous. It goes something like this (in Greek.)

Them: "Why do you speak Greek?"
Me: "Because I'm half Greek."
Them: "Your mother or your father?"
Me: "My mother."
Them: "Where (in Greece) is she from?"
Me: "Egypt."

My mother's family is Greek Egyptian. Which I guess makes the blond hair and blue eyes even stranger. People have a hard enough time realizing that I'm Greek. It wasn't until recently that I found out that one of my ancestors had been a French crusader. My mom spoke about it nostalgically, since she's such a Francophile since she went to a French school in Egypt. I said "you know that means that somebody raped somebody, right?" You don't just have a Greek family and one ancestor just happens to be a French crusader like that. That would explain the blue eyes I guess.

My mom was a refugee from the Suez crisis. Since then she has always hated the British. But she loves France, and everything that has to do with French culture. When I was in middle school and we had to choose between French and Spanish, I chose French. My brother chose French too. I told my mother recently, you know the French did the same thing! It was the French and the British who were the colonial occupiers in Egypt. But the French were her school teachers. She grew up speaking French. I guess that speaks volumes to how much more successful the French colonial project was, in a ways. Colonize the mind through education. Not just brute force.

They say Greek people with blue eyes have special powers, that we can cast the evil eye. The Nazir, or the blue eye, is a talisman that you see throughout the former Ottoman empire, which is supposed to protect people from the evil eye. I always thought it was a Greek thing, but then I realized that it was a Turkish thing as well, and you saw it throughout the Balkans. It would make sense; we were all part of the Ottoman empire. When I traveled to Herzegovina (part of Bosnia and Herzegovina) I got a blue eye bracelet. I have warn it around my wrist ever since.

I don't remember exactly where I got it. It was in Mostar, in Herzegovina-- a town that was particularly ravaged by the war. I know you might think I'm crazy, but this bracelet has special powers. It's not just the blue eye. You see, sometimes it turns red. The eye turns pink and it forms red splotches. This has happened several times, usually when I'm in a difficult situation in life or there is something threatening me. My friend who has psychic powers tried to read it, but it was blocking him. It has a very powerful life of its own. He thinks it may have belonged to a Bosnian woman-- someone who suffered greatly.

I went through a period of freaking out after I realized this. I had been wearing it for a while, not thinking that much about it. Then I was faced with the realization that it had a tremendous power that I couldn't really understand. This happened during a time when I was particularly faced by malignant spirits. I realized that it protects me though. And I still wear it to this day. It's a reminder of some sort of cultural commonality throughout the former Ottoman empire. And it reminds me of where I come from, where I've been, where I'm going.

~Saffo

CALL TO ACTION FOR MEHDI N. --- DON'T LET GERMANY DEPORT HIM

From the IRanian Queer Railroad, a group for Iranian Queers http://www.irqr.net/English/199.htm

Dear Iranian queer supporters,

We request your assistance with an urgent case involving Mehdi N., a 29-year-old gay Iranian who seeks asylum in Germany.



Mehdi N. escaped from Iran at the beginning of 2007 due to his well-known fear of persecution on the basis of his sexual orientation. He stayed in Istanbul, Turkey for six months, but was unaware of his ability to apply for refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey. At that time, he was also uninformed about the existence of the IRanian Queer Railroad and our ability to support him.



Mehdi N. was lonely in Turkey. His biggest fear was that Turkish police would arrest him and deport him back to Iran. Eventually, someone took him to Germany where he sought to claim asylum.



“When I got to the airport, I introduced myself to police. I told them that I am gay and am seeking asylum. The police officer then shouted, ‘what are you doing here?!’ I feared death, and then started to cry,” Mehdi N. wrote in his letter to the IRQR.



While in Iran, Mehdi N. was forced to live in the closet, hiding his sexual identity from his family and society. He was raped by his boyfriend and sexually abused by his boyfriend’s friends. Mehdi N. was forced to have sex with his boyfriend while the friends filmed the action using a cell phone camera without his knowledge or consent.



“They sent the clip of me having sex with him to others. Many of my friends who received the video had no previous knowledge about my sexual orientation. I was in a very risky situation. They sent the clip to my family as well. I prefer not to talk about the experience and what I suffered,” Mehdi N. said.



He still cannot disclose his sexual orientation in Germany. He fears deportation because his claim for asylum has been refused several times. If deported back to Iran, he will face persecution, punishment, or even death.



“In Iran, one of my biggest challenges was having to deny my sexual orientation. Now, in Germany, the hardest challenge is to prove it,” Mehdi N. said.



At court, Mehdi N. was ridiculed and disparaged by his judge.



“The judge asked me how it was possible that I could be a 28-year-old gay man without my family knowing about it. I explained that I was good at denying my sexual orientation and was careful to avoid consequences from my behavior. The judge explained to me that in Germany, if a man does not have a girlfriend, everyone knows he is gay. I replied that circumstances are not the same in Iran, but unfortunately he didn’t believe me. The judge said ‘I have had many gay people come here and sit in front of me. They looked like gays, but I do not have this feeling about you,’” Mehdi N. said.



After his trial, Mehdi N. received a letter from the court, which said that his refugee status was not granted. He must now leave Germany.



Mehdi N. should be granted refugee status by the German government, because upon his forced return to Iran, he will face imprisonment, torture, and even execution. On February 10, 2009, the European Commission affirmed that persecution on the grounds of sexual orientation is a legitimate justification for an asylum claim. The Commission has confirmed that there is “an obligation on Member States to grant refugee status to persons who are found to have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of membership of a particular social group, including a group based on a common characteristic of sexual orientation.”



“They used to pay me 176 Euros for food and daily expenses, but they have no subtracted 41 Euros as a fine. I live off of just 135 Euros per month. Most importantly, I am suffering here,” Mehdi N. said. “There are about 70 people living in this home. Every few days, they come to deport some people back. I expect death whenever I hear someone knocking on the door. I have no permission to leave this city, no rights to have a bank account, no rights to travel, and no rights to do anything. I do not exist in Germany. I just want to be a free human without any fear of persecution or punishment.”



Mehdi N. is in an unjust situation and needs your urgent action. Please show your support by writing to the Deutsch government to urge them to grant refugee status to Mehdi N. You may copy and paste the sample letters (below) into an email and send it to the provide emails below or you may write your own letter in support of Mehdi N.



Send your letters to:



BMI – Federal Minister of the Interior Mr. Wolfgang Schäuble

Address: Alt Moabit 101 D10559 Berlin

Phone: +49 3018 681-0

Fax: +49 3018 681-2926

Email: poststelle@bmi.bund.de



BMJ – Federal Minister of Justice Ms. Brigitte Zypries:

Address: Mohrenstraße 3710117 Berlin

Phone: +49 1888 580-0

Fax: +49 1888 580-9525

Email: poststelle@bmj.bund.de



European Justice & Human Rights Spokeswoman Ms. Sarah Ludford:

European Parliament, Brussel

Phone: +3222847104

Fax: + 3222849104

Email: sarah.ludford@europarl.europa.eu



Please CC IRQR info@irqr.net for tracking purposes. Thank you for your support.



In addition, if you or your organization is interested in hosting an event to support Mehdi and other Iranian gay refugees, please contact Arsham Parsi at info@irqr.net as soon as possible. Thank you for your support.



Related Article: http://www.irqr.net/English/195.htm



Sincerely,
IRanian Queer Railroad - IRQR
www . irqr . net
info @ irqr . net
(001) 416-548-4171
414-477 Sherbourne St.
Toronto, On - M4X 1K5


- - - - - - Sample Letter - - - - -

Date:

To: Minister of Interior, Mr. Wolfgang Schäuble, poststelle@bmi.bund.de

Minister of Justice, Ms. Brigitte Zypries, poststelle@bmj.bund.de

European Justice & Human Rights Spokeswoman, Ms. Sarah Ludford, sarah.ludford@europarl.europa.eu

CC: IRQR, info@irqr.net

Subject: Germany threatens to deport Mehdi N. to Iran – Urgent need for action



Dear Ministers,

I am contacting you to request your assistance on a very urgent case involving Mehdi N., a gay Iranian, who is currently in Germany. I received some information about him through the IRanian Queer Railroad, based in Toronto, Canada.

Mehdi N. is a citizen of Iran, with case number 5265469-439. He escaped Iran in early 2007 because of his well-known fear of persecution on basis of his sexual orientation. He applied for asylum in July 2007, but the Deutsch Government unfortunately denied his asylum status and he is now at risk for deportation.

His asylum judge did not believe that he was gay due to the fact that he didn’t look like other gay individuals and the fact that Mehdi N.’s family was unaware of his homosexuality. I would like to express my deep concern about his situation, as he will experience imprisonment, torture, and even execution upon his forced return to Iran.

I am urging you to reconsider this case under the spirit of respect for human rights and I am requesting you to grant this person the full state of asylum in Germany.



Sincerely

X

- - - - - - - End of Sample Letter - - - - - -

the basic essentials

so i watched this documentary a while back, called Flow, about the privatization of water. it was a pretty incredible documentary, and i'd recommend it to anyone. after watching that i said i will never drink bottled water again. water is, obviously, extremely important. so much so that those of us privileged enough to have secure access to drinkable water can easily take it for granted. it's just that obvious. the water is more important that oil. you can't drink oil. you can't live off oil. oil is not the basis of all life on this planet.

water is such an essential part of our existence. the thing is... it's amazing that they've actually managed to commodify water. that it can be something that's packaged and sold. that they've stolen away from us and sell back to us. that people in the third world are dying because they've had their source of water stolen away from them by companies like coca cola and nestle, thanks to the force of the world bank and imf.

but, of course, that's capitalism.

anyway, i was talking about this with my family earlier... about the fact that these capitalists can really have the audacity to privatize water, something that comes freely out of the ground and that we all need to survive. and i was thinking... what are the basic, basic essentials of human life:

land and shelter
water
food
air
the sun

well, they've already managed to commodify the first three. when the dutch supposedly "bought" new york from the natives, the natives had no concept of land ownership. of course not, what the fuck does it mean to own the earth? nobody owns the earth.

well, food was the first to go, i guess. and they've managed to take rape the land and take it way from people, so much so that people will slave away their entire lives just to pay for the place they sleep in. they've managed to take water away from people too now.

just wait, some day you're going to have to pay for the air you breathe. and maybe someday (if there's still human life left by then) we'll have to pay for the sun, too.

i was a fucked-up little kid

okay so i've been cleaning out shit i had in storage in my parents attic for the past week or so... i haven't gotten very far, mostly i've just been throwing out piles and piles of school notes, mostly from 8th grade.

lemmie just say this, i was a fucked-up little fat kid with no friends. among old algebra tests and notes from civics class, a couple scribbles of people hanging themselves or slashing their wrists or notes from french class i found this:




THE HUMAN LAWS OF HOPELESSNESS

ALL EMOTIONS = NO EMOTIONS
ANGER = SADNESS
ALL HATE= NO HATE
HOPEFULLNESS= IGNORANCE
UNDERSTANDING= HOPELESSNESS
HAPPYNESS= IGNORANCE
THE END= THE BEGINNING
HUMANITY= INFIRORITY
EVIL= HUMAN
CORRUPTION= HUMAN
GREED= HUMAN
UTOPIANISM≠ HUMAN
CAPITALISM= COMMUNISM

THERE IS NO SUPERIOR HUMAN
THERE ARE NO HEROS
NO ONE IS BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE, SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST MORE POWERFUL OR AWARE

POWER=AWARENESS
THERE IS NO ENEMY.
THE ENEMY IS INSIDE ALL OF US
ALL ENEMY= ARMAGEDDON.