{"id":52661,"date":"2026-05-14T11:54:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ket.brussels\/?p=52661"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:55:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:55:49","slug":"i-want-young-roma-queer-people-to-grow-up-without-hiding-any-part-of-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ket.brussels\/en\/2026\/05\/14\/i-want-young-roma-queer-people-to-grow-up-without-hiding-any-part-of-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI want young Roma queer people to grow up without hiding any part of themselves\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For this piece, ket joins forces with the Greek LGBTQ+ magazine Anti Virus<\/strong> as part of the ELMA \u2013 European LGBTQIA+ Magazines Association<\/strong>. Thanks to this network, we can share a conversation that rarely reaches Brussels: what it means to be Roma and queer in Greece<\/strong> today, and what kind of future young Roma LGBTQIA+ people deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview originally published by\u00a0Anti Virus<\/strong>\u00a0in April 2026, a Roma LGBTQ+ activist explains how most media stories about Roma identity appear once a year, around International Roma Day \u2013 and are forgotten just as quickly. Even then, these stories almost never mention the\u00a0multiple identities<\/strong>\u00a0many Roma people hold: gay, lesbian, bi+, trans, non\u2011binary, intersex, questioning. The result is a double invisibility that weighs heavily on those who live at this intersection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Growing up Roma and queer \u2013 with nowhere to be fully yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The interviewee describes growing up in an environment where\u00a0being Roma already meant facing racism and stereotypes<\/strong><\/a>, and where being queer or trans was unthinkable to talk about openly. In many families and communities, traditional gender roles and expectations around marriage, children and religion leave very little space for difference.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For young Roma LGBTQ+ people, this often means living a fragmented life<\/strong>: hiding queerness in Roma spaces, downplaying Roma identity in LGBTQ+ spaces, and rarely feeling fully safe in either. The person interviewed talks about the emotional cost of this fragmentation, from mental health struggles to the feeling of never being \u201cenough\u201d for any group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, they insist that Roma communities are not monolithic. There are relatives who quietly support, friends who show up, and elders who understand more than they say out loud. Change, they argue, is already happening from within \u2013 but it needs time, resources and visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNo one should have to hide pieces of their identity\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The central wish expressed in the article is simple and powerful: \u201cI would like young Roma LGBTQ+ people to grow up in an environment where they don\u2019t have to hide any part of their identity.\u201d<\/strong> That means:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n