Photo Project || YOUth in ACTivism: The Camp [2021]

Homophobic attack on Ljubljana's LGBT + club Today, Friday, November 1, at 6 am, after the club closed, a group of thugs attacked the Tiffany Club on Metelkova in Ljubljana, the press release said. The attackers smashed the front door of the Hunters building, which houses the LGBT + clubs Tiffany and Monokel, and broke into the club. Club staff (members) took refuge inside the barracks and barricaded the door. The attackers wanted to reach them, smashed down the hallway and doors, insulted them and threatened them with the words, “Where are you pussies, come out, fagots!” They damaged the hallways of the building and smashed the windows on the building. The police were immediately informed of the attack, and when the police arrived, the attackers fled. \"In the last month alone, we have witnessed two violent attacks on LGBT + people in Slovenia. Any violence, hostile acts based on sexual orientation or gender identity, incitement and spread of hatred towards LGBT + minorities must be stopped immediately!\" ŠKUC Society press release after the attack.





For years one of the most famous beer brands in Bulgaria- \"Kamenitza\" had the slogan \"Only men know why\". A feminist organisation held a law suit against them and won. The company had to remove and change their slogan.





On the 17-th of May, 2021 a Pride was organised in Burgas, for the first time hosting the event outside of the country's capital. In the same time, a counter protest was help next to it. Several hundred were participants in the counter-protest against Burgas Pride, in which only about 30 people took part. At the beginning of the situation it was calm, but the tension increased, including with homophobic chants by the counter-protest. The situation escalated when smoke, cucumbers, eggs and plastic water bottles flew to the participants, the Pride flag was publicly burned. The police left the counter- protest too close to the Pride participants and had to use water gun to de-escalate the conflict.





Today, the Free University (VU) in Amsterdam was the first Dutch higher education institution to sign the manifesto against sexual violence that Amnesty International drew up together with students. The Rector Magnificus of the VU, Vinod Subramaniam, together with representatives of the USR Student Council, signed the manifesto with which higher education institutions promise to commit themselves to combating sexual violence among students. This is sorely needed, as an Amnesty-commissioned survey last May found that rape is above average among students and that they usually don't know how to find help through their university or college. ‘We think it is important that students know where to find us in case of problems,’ says Rector Subramaniam. ‘That also applies to problems that take place outside the walls of the university. That is why we, as a university, are joining Amnesty's appeal. In this way we can contribute to the cultural change that is necessary where the social safety of students is concerned.'





France’s top court has rejected a bid to pursue rape charges against a group of firefighters accused of repeatedly raping a girl known as “Julie” during a period between her 13th and 15th birthdays. The men will instead be charged with sexual assault, which carries a lighter sentence than rape. Attorneys for Julie’s family plan to contest that decision and bring the case to Europe’s Court of Human Rights. The horrific allegations in Julie’s case have galvanized protesters who want to see France institute stricter age-of-consent laws. Julie was 13 when she suffered a seizure in school and was rescued by firefighters. After the incident, she began to have severe anxiety attacks that repeatedly required firefighters to intervene, and developed a trusting relationship with the men, which they allegedly later exploited. According to Julie’s family and lawyers, the firefighters got the teenager’s phone number and began sending her flirtatious messages. Over a two-year period, she was allegedly raped by 20 men. According to her mother, she made multiple suicide attempts and is now struggling with severe disability. The Wednesday judgment from France’s high court backs a lower appeals court’s finding that Julie, now 25, “had the necessary discernment” to reject the men’s advances, and argues that investigators failed to establish that all of the men were aware that Julie was a minor.Three of the firefighters admitted to having sex with Julie but said that they did so consensually. The other 17 men have not been charged. Under French law, sex with a minor under the age of 15 is considered illegal only if it is not consensual. Given the difficulty of proving that a minor was forcibly or violently coerced, only about 1 percent of such cases result in convictions.





There is a trend of queer people leaving their Conservative rural homes when coming to bigger progressive cities to study and work. A group of queer friends in Slovenia who lived in the capitol and decided to stop hiding in their rural community. They formed their own LGBTQIA+ organisation in their small town, organising community events for themselves and their allies. They even planned their first pride parade in 2020. On the pride day, other LGBTQIA+ organisations in the capitol organised buses and took the queer Community to the parade in the small town. This way, the parade had around 150 people which was a huge success for their small town. This year their second and even bigger pride parade took place in the same town.





What do I have to do to belong I am exposed to you with all that I am and only when you know everything about me You have the right not to love me but only then and I can handle that very well I bow my head for it with love, because then it is true I thirst for that we shake hands we are in a free, open field and equivalent then you ask me: where are you from? you have now drawn a line through the sand I ignore that line, I come a step closer to you and say: Enschede netherlands you say yes, no, I originally mean ... as if I don't follow the rules of the game the locating game. I am already confused and numb at this point. I actually have pain, but I don't allow that you know that whole foreigner thing is not for me I'm too smart for that, too strong for that, and please, we've had that right now, right?





The Prosecutor had filed a special surveillance request , for me and four other people. We were called to trial because, between 2016 and 2018, joined the structures - military or civil - of the revolution that started in Rojava, in Kurdistan. All five of us had heard of Kobane's resistance against the revolutionary army that had stopped the Islamic State. What united us was the choice to leave to know that reality and support that cause. When I left, I carried with me a feminist and transfeminist baggage, an antifascist, an anticapitalist and a partisan, filled with years of participation in the struggles of the territory in which I live. This is the decisive element that led the Public Prosecutor's Office to put me under surveillance. I am an \"individual bearer of social danger\". I have to stick to a series of several very clear and concrete limitations. As a special guard I cannot participate in public meetings of any kind (concerts, presentations, conferences, events…); from 18.00 to 21.00 I cannot \"access public establishments or public entertainment\". When 9.00 pm arrives I must have already returned home on time and until 7.00 the following morning I am no longer authorized to go out. They have withdrawn my license and passport and my identity card is not valid for expatriation. Wherever I go I have to carry a red booklet with me, the \"preceptive paper\" on which the officer on duty.This has been my life for almost a year.





New Shocking Testimonials From Xinjiang “They beat me with a chair until it broke. I almost fainted. Then the guards said: You have not 'changed' yet, you must stay longer in the camp.” Imagine if you were detained in an concentration camp or sentenced to prison for years merely because of: your ethnicity; your travelling or living or studying abroad; the number of children you have; your religion; having WhatsApp on your phone; or your calls to friends and relatives abroad. That’s the reality for huge numbers of predominantly Muslim men and women – perhaps 1 million or more – detained in Xinjiang since 2017. Many have been persecuted and detained for what appears to be, entirely lawful conduct. In a new investigation, Amnesty interviewed dozens of former prisoners of so-called \"re-education camps\" in China's Xinjiang region. Their shocking stories show that Muslim minorities are treated horribly.





My dear friend one day came out to me in a very intense and emotional state. We were in Olde Vechte, actually. He told me that he was very confused and uncomfortable with himself and he was having trouble with his identity. He told me that here in Ommen he felt a sense of freedom, not having any responsibilities or consequences. So he felt like he had the freedom to be fully himself here. He knew that if he would go back to his country, Portugal, that he would lose this feeling. He will meet his toxic friends who will probably ask him how many girls he shagged in Holland, or he wil see his father who either way was always distant to him and silently not accepting him being himself. He also told me that he has a boyfriend, but because he feels so confused about himself he was also very insecure about that relationship. After this conversation, I realised that I had found my BFF. This is my soulmate in a way. It felt really liberating for him and for me kinda too that he could be so honest. This honesty and sense of freedom gave him the courage to come out to his family. His mom was very accepting “honey, I already knew” was her reply. His dad was not so accepting, he abandoned him. But this didn’t make my friend feel sad. It gave him a very liberating feeling. He finally could be himself and with people who love him, UNCONDITIONALLY!





While a great many legendary women have walked upon this earth, these ten women are especially noteworthy for dominating their fields – effectively changing French history forever. Fearless in their pursuits, they defeated the odds stacked against them and became heroines to many. While their accomplishments continue to inspire us to this day, we clearly still have much to learn from these remarkable historical figures: Marie Curie, Marie de Medici, Sarah Bernhardt, Olympe de Gouges, Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), Gabrielle Coco Bonheur Chanel etc. Coco Chanel (1883-1971) Chanel’s classic ‘from rags to riches’ story makes her admirable. Coco Chanel rose to glory in the fashion scene to become one of the most innovative fashion designers of the 20th century. Chanel was revolutionary for using a masculine aesthetic in women’s clothes — she popularized trousers and suits for women and made the LBD (little black dress) a wardrobe staple. Chanel dressed the new modern woman, and made Parisian women world famous for their sophistication and refinement.