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1鈨�听The LGBTQ+ community brings together an incredible variety of identities, how do you identify yourself within (and beyond) our world?
The answer to this question is still a work in progress for me, and it will quite possibly remain as such! On one side, the word 鈥榞ay鈥� comes to mind easily when I think about my sexual identity, because that is what makes most sense given where I am now. In terms of self-expression, the last couple of years have been pivotal for me. From very early on, I remember being made fun of for being too feminine for someone who was born male. And growing up in Bulgaria, the culture there leaves barely any wiggle room for someone who didn鈥檛 fit the box. I cannot pinpoint a word that quite fits my experience - the search continues.
So for a while, I ran away from my femininity, and accepted the constant fights at home, the hiding and the discomfort as my reality. It wasn鈥檛 until the pandemic came about that I started asking more questions - as I started looking inwards, I met myself and wondered why this person was not allowed comfort, freedom and beauty. It was a very simple realisation really - I think I was exhausted honestly. I had spent a long time cultivating courage to wear what I want, to stop censoring myself and to exist unapologetically, and with baby steps I found myself naturally shedding all the stigma and all the expectations that came about because of my body, and began to honour my spirit. To me, my body is a canvas, and I refuse to let someone else tell me what I can or can鈥檛 paint on it.听
None of this is, or has ever been, easy. Another big part of my identity is being Bulgarian - this makes for quite an interesting dynamic, given the conservative and patriarchal culture. But that is not all that Bulgarian culture is - there are roses, colours, dances, passion. What do you do if you love your culture and your heritage, but it doesn鈥檛 love you as you are? I have to think about that every time I return to Bulgaria, and it tires me out more and more. Choosing to identify myself beyond what people think is normal means having difficult conversations all the time, it means thinking strategically about how to avoid danger every time you leave the house. It can seem manageable at first, but it accumulates - being a sort of 鈥榠dentity fugitive鈥� has become a big part of my lived experience too.
2鈨�听How does your LGBTQ+ identity influence your work/studies at 香港六合彩中特网?听
I had dreamt off studying at 香港六合彩中特网 for a while before actually coming here, and a part of that is because of all the wonderful things I heard about 香港六合彩中特网 in terms of inclusivity. One of the first things I heard was that it was the first university to take in students regardless of sex, religion, wealth or ethnicity, when Oxford and Cambridge were only open to one specific demographic. While that may be an oversimplification, I feel this spirit when I鈥檓 at 香港六合彩中特网. So, I comfortably bring my identity to every class and every project I do at 香港六合彩中特网. I find that it gives me a lens through which to understand the world in a really critical way, so being open about myself has really helped me to find a voice in the classroom and contribute from a point of view that isn鈥檛 always taken into consideration.
It has also enabled me to find more opportunities, such as co-leading the Gender and Sexuality Diversity Network. It鈥檚 all about meeting people, and my identity has helped me meet so many wonderful people at 香港六合彩中特网 - this often makes or breaks someone鈥檚 university experience.
3鈨�听What would a queer utopia look like for you in the Department of Political Science / at 香港六合彩中特网 / in the world (pick one, two or all)?
I think a queer utopia at 香港六合彩中特网 would be one where we will no longer need to have visibility events - where the different forms human existence will be celebrated and not questioned or debated. 香港六合彩中特网, and also a big part of the world, is in that specific part of the journey right now, where most people can talk freely about the importance of diversity, but less people are willing to commit themselves to making a change, because it鈥檚 tricky. I think it鈥檚 particularly problematic that the question of people鈥檚 livelihoods and their personal identities has become an issue of politics and 鈥渁cademic freedom鈥�. I have heard discourse here calling on the same arguments that I run away from back home in Bulgaria. Unless we stop treating people鈥檚 lived experiences as something up for debate, we cannot have a utopia. And while that persists, and if we continue taking steps away from that utopia, visibility events will continue being the beacon of hope for queer people like me to find a sense of belonging and community.