Thanasis McMorait discovered stunning anti-LGBT violence on social media after Greece became the first Orthodox Christian nation to allow same-sex unions. A mob of about 150 individuals were chasing down two transgender people in the second-largest city of Thessaloniki.
On March 9, the audience set upon the subjects in city Thessaloniki’s Aristotelous Square. The attackers allegedly actually assaulted and threw containers at the transgender people. The attackers slammed on the windows of a restaurant as the victims sucked into it to flee the crime. Police immediately arrested 21 individuals over the affair, including 11 minors.
McMorait, a drag queen and gay actor who lives in Thessaloniki, fast hopped into activity. McMorait saved the video, which people in the crowd, the patients, and testimony had recorded, and shared them frequently online.
The article quickly received attention from the Greek media as the video spread across the web. But McMorait saw the assault, in component, as a item of media- hyped disagreement over move to allow the exact- sex marriage. The way the same-sex marriage bill was handled by the Greek press and society has sparked a very, very powerful outcry in this traditional core in Greece, which is very strong, and queer people are also being targeted for this anger, according to McMorait.
” We Only Have One Another”
Activists gathered in Thessaloniki the day after the strike to protest against LGBTQ violence. The presentation brought out Transgender activists, socialists, anarchists, and others. According to McMoirat, the protest- visitors sought to give three information.
” The first was that’ we only have one another,'” McMorait explained. ” It’s something we often say to each other because we ca n’t unfortunately rely on any government, any state, any institution when it comes to our lives. We have just our brothers and sisters. The fascist were told by the second information that they could not do this. They will be the ones who are afraid in Thessaloniki, so we wo n’t be afraid to walk around.
The third message, he said, went out to those who have n’t taken a stand against anti- LGBTQ violence. They must choose whether to support the offenders or those who are fighting for their life and their life, he added.
A group of about 50 veiled men attacked the opposition as thousands of demonstrators gathered in support of the patients.
” A Time of Intense Hate Speech”
The assault was n’t an aberration. More than half of all hate crimes, according to the Racist Violence Recording Network ( RVRN), an umbrella of civil society organizations that tracks hate crimes occurred in 2022.
In a statement following the Thessaloniki abuse, RVRN stated that the assault occurred “at a time when there was intense hate speech against LGBTQI+ individuals in the context of the conversation and recent passage of the rules legalizing same-sex marriage.”
According to RVRN,” top politicians and members of the parliament, as well as… the media and church representatives in the country” express like hate speech in” the public discourse.”
They must choose between supporting the culprits and supporting the people who are fighting for their life and their lives.
– Thanasis McMorait
The latest attack, according to George Stamatis, who serves on the Greek senate’s Special Standing Committee on Youth Equality and Human Rights, demonstrates that “diversity continues to be accepted and tolerated by some serious elements of our society.
Stamatis, who is also a member of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination at the Council of Europe, argued that Thessaloniki continues to be a “multicultural city” and that” this event” will not define the community. Fighting against anti- LGBTQ sentiment and violence means that Greece needs” to look at what happens in the families ]and ] what happens in education”, he added.
Far- Right Parties
In the history of Greece, one of its largest shares of far-right parties has been present in the country’s parliament. Three far- right parties — the Spartans Party, Niki, and the Greek Solution — entered the parliament after June 2023 elections, altogether securing more than 12 % of the vote. New Democracy, the conservative ruling party, gained some 40 % of the vote in those elections, and some of its members have railed against the LGBTQ community.
When the Hellenic Parliament voted on same- sex marriage, 176 legislators voted in favor. Some 76 voted against the bill, including 20 New Democracy lawmakers, and another 46 abstained from the vote.
Thessaloniki will host EuroPride in the middle of June, according to Stamatis. According to Stamatis, the event will honor the LGBTQ community by saying,” I think this will be a good response to all those who want a closed society where not all citizens have the same rights.”
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival was held earlier this month in the city, which honors queer cinema in particular. In the leadup, posters of some of the festival’s films — Elina Psikou’s” Stray Bodies”, for instance — stirred backlash from far- right and religious groups. The” Stray Bodies” posters depicted a nude pregnant woman on a cross.
Metropolitan Bishop Filotheos and parliamentarian Komninos Delveroudis, a member of the far-right Niki party, publicly demanded the poster’s censorship. Later, Filotheos clarified in a letter to festival director Elise Jalladeua that his request only incorporated the poster and not the actual movie.
” Horror and Indignation”
On March 10, Jalladeua issued a written response that lamented that the world” seems to be going backwards”, adding:” Violence, attacks on women, ]and ] femicides are on the rise”. She also made reference to the anti-trans attack that occurred the day before in the city. ” Just yesterday in Aristotelous Square, a stone’s throw from our festival headquarters, we witnessed with horror and indignation a vicious and violent attack on two transgender people, who were rescued purely by chance”, Jalladeua wrote.
We ought to listen to one’s views in the context of an accepting and loving society, according to Jalladeua, if they do not preach hatred and do not call for illegal acts, if they do not threaten the fundamental principles of freedom and democracy and if they do not violate existing laws.
At the same time, the anti- trans violence demonstrates that the struggle for an inclusive society has collided with the opposition of religious groups, hardline conservatives, and far- right extremists. Some critics, however, have also criticized the police’s handling of these attacks, citing instances of violent incidents in the past.
” Left Without Justice”
In September 2018, the case of LGBTQ activist and community organizer Zak Kostopoulos, who often went by the drag name Zackie Oh, made global headlines. Kostopoulos had egressed a jewelry store in Athens. Two men, including the shop owner, later claimed Kostopoulos had tried to rob the business. Security camera footage showed the men beating Kostopoulos. When police officers arrived and handcuffed Kostopoulos, some also beat the already injured activist. Kostopoulos passed away before they could enter the police station.
Kostopoulos’s family insisted his death amounted to a hate crime. The two men who beat Kostopoulos were later found guilty of causing fatal bodily harm, but a court later upheld the four police officers who were also charged with not guilty.
The court’s decision to not convict the officers was condemned by human rights organizations, including Amnesty International. ” It beggars belief that despite footage showing police using unnecessary force to arrest Zak while he lay dying on the ground, no officer has yet to be held to account”, Glykeria Arapi, director of the watchdog’s Greece chapter, said in a statement. Arapi added that the decision “is yet another example in Greece where victims of unnecessary use of force and their families are left without justice.”
” Transphobia Is Global”
In response to criticism of the police’s handling of anti-LGBT violence, George Stamatis argued that police should properly investigate “any complaint by any citizen about anything.” Stamatis added that authorities “must intervene quickly but with such a degree of readiness that the victim is not subject to discrimination on the part of the police, either.”
Anti-LGBT discrimination and “violence is now gaining visibility,” according to Thanasis McMorait, who claims that such incidents are being either applauded or condemned by those who want to condemn them.
However, in McMorait’s perspective, Greece’s fight against homophobia and transphobia is a component of a global campaign to combat bigotry and discrimination. From the United States to Europe, McMoirat said,” We cannot just live with the problem of our own micro- community. We must acknowledge that transphobia is a global issue and that the need to combat it is also growing.
