Ghalia, a Queer activist who made her way through the media.
She serves a bold image of herself, regardless of what society expects a woman to look like, and she’s not scared to let the world know her true self.
What does Ghalia know and thinks about the Libyan Queer community? Here is the text of the dialogue:
What do you know about the LGBTQ+ community in Libya?
I know that they’re suffering with their freedom, they can’t live a normal life, they can’t express themselves freely, I don’t live in Libya anymore, but when i was there, i wasn’t scared to tell people I trust, about my sexuality, but also that didn’t stop the people from talking about me or being careful with me.
Have you ever met any person within the LGBTQ+ community in Libya ? If so, how did that make you feel?
Of course I did, and my first reaction was like, where have you been all my life? Because of the struggle they go through and how discreet they’re, it makes it very difficult to meet anyone easily, so that’s why whenever I meet someone within the LGBTQ+ community, I feel like they’re family.
Are you with the LGBTQ+ rights in Libya? If yes, how would you show your support?
I am with, and what I can do to show my support is kind of difficult, but the least thing I can do, is to defend my own community when I need to, in the country I’m in right now, I met some queer Libyans, and somehow I managed to let my non queer friends meet my queer friends and get along, my job was to show how normal queer people are, and that what we were taught about the LGBTQ+ community wasn’t right.
Do you consider your work place, a safe place for an LGBTQ+ person to work at or come out in ?
Where I work right now, people do know about my sexual orientation, they prefer not to talk about it, but that doesn’t disapprove my ability to work with them, in Libya some places can be safe to come out to, but most places are very dangerous as they will consider you an outsider who goes against their beliefs and that will put you in a very uncomfortable situation.
If you find out one of your family members/relatives is an LGBTQ+ how do you think you’ll deal with that?
I will hold them, show them that they’re not alone in this, talk to them through it, i’ll ask them how can i help, i believe i’ll do my best to not make them feel self isolated and that they will get through this with time, but most importantly, they should be careful if they’re still in Libya.
In Libya, the LGBTQ+ community suffers from all types of discrimination, religion because it’s forbidden, society wise because its a shame, and the law doesn’t grant or believe in their rights, do you think the awareness KUN is providing, will help and change the idea the anti queers in Libya have about the LGBTQ+ community?
Of course it will change their perspective, Libyans have hate towards the queer community without even understanding the concept of being queer, also I have noticed lately the LGBTQ+ community are more comfortable to be who they’re, and you can tell with providing understanding for those who don’t understand you will actually come out with a positive outcome, so yes, it will take us some time to reach to complete acceptance but what KUN is doing is such a huge step for the queer community in Libya to be recognized and to help achieve their rights.
