OPEN LETTER TO THE PUBLIC: HATE, DEATH THREATS AND CALLS FOR LYNCHING FOR EKVALIS’ SUMMER SCHOOL ON LGBTIQ+ YOUTH AND ALLIES

OPEN LETTER TO THE PUBLIC: Hate, Death Threats and Calls for Violence for Ekvalis’ Summer School for LGBTI+ Youth and Allies

You can find the full list of signees of the call for solidarity at the end of this letter.

MACEDONIAN VERSION AVAILABLE HERE.

This is not just an ordinary announcement. These are our voices to show what we have really gone through this month: hatred, threats to our lives, calls for violence and, finally, our expulsion from a town where we have worked and invested for almost 7 years of our work.

What happened:

At the beginning of June, Ekvalis opened a call for participants of the Summer School for LGBTI+ Youth and Straight/cis-gender Allies. This is one of our program commitments through which, using an non-formal education approaches, we try to build friendships between LGBTI+ youth and their peers, build environments of support in aspects in which the system has failed to do so, to create circles of allies that will help overcome stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination against this very vulnerable group of young people. Such programs also help to rethink and create new and more adequate support systems.

Very shortly after our call for participants was promoted, one of the first spokespersons against our school was Ljupco Ristevski, the leader of the conservative political party "Integra". In his Facebook status, he shared Ekvalis’ post, which promoted the informal part of the program, themed as "Queer Tarot, Board Games and Stargazing". In his status, he says: "According to the Bible, all these listed 'games' are the creation of the devil himself and a terrible end is foreseen for such, but also for all those who support, promote and practice them... These are the works of evil.” Then, he calls on the Church to react: "I expect the church leadership of the Macedonian Orthodox Church to react fiercely, as well as all Christian churches, denominations and communities in Macedonia. This is a deep descent into ruin."

Immediately after that, Ljupco Ristovski is joined by the famous anti-vaxxer and a person who became known for her theories that the covid virus does not exist, Gordana Godzo, who, in her status, not only deals with the topics of this school, but especially criticizes why the school takes place in Kratovo.

In the following days, the Ekvalis’ team witnessed how the local community in Kratovo began to mobilize around this issue. Certain profiles on social networks, which until that moment were engaged with promoting the natural beauties of Kratovo, now suddenly call on the local population to react sharply to the implementation of this school. One of the comments on a post on this page says: "Throw the “teachers" off from Radin bridge into the abyss."These are just some of the hundreds of comments, messages and emails we received during those two-week period. Here is just a small part of them:

• Beat them, all normal parents should beat them until those idiots spit blood, that's the only cure

• Wow, if I see you in Kratovo, it will be bad

• Throw the "teachers" from the Radin Bridge into the abys

• You devil mother*uckers, f*ck the organizers of this satanic school

• I am a fury, will you let me take my rat with me and will you allow me to explode it in the room where I’ll sleep (it will scream very loud)

In these comments you will not only see calls for violence, death, hate, but also cowardice. As party leaders and prominent anti-gender activists inflame the emotions of citizens, they encourage them to "monitor" in the field, so that young children aged 16-20 fall for such provocations. Children who become radicalized, are called to extremist activities, such as burning rats in the room, beating people, etc. are the result of a society in which party leaders, so-called "activists", and the Church uses them as weapons to implement their fascist ideas of a world in which LGBTI+ people do not exist, while their hands remain clean, and they only do what is easiest to do – to create conflicts and destabilize the peace.

The steps we took:

On 17.06.2024, Ekvalis filed a criminal complaint against Ljupco Ristovski, Gordana Godzo and other persons-users of social networks due to a committed crime - Spreading racist and xenophobic material through computer system no. 394, Endangering security, paragraph 5 of the Criminal Code. We will vigilantly follow the outcome of this case and if the state does not punish the perpetrators, we will seek justice before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Our team meanwhile spent three weeks mitigating the risks. We implemented the school, but unfortunately were kicked out of a town we’ve worked with for almost 7 years, forced to move the school secretly to another location, to hold the summer school for the first time in our work under a 24/7 security monitoring. Queer people and their allies stood together and we didn't let the bullies isolate us completely. Our idea of ​​unity is stronger, but it also means ensuring absolute and complete security for the groups we work with.

This is a message to our friends and fellow citizens from Kratovo: We are not your problem; we are your friends! Do not fall for easy provocations. We have been in your town for almost 7 years, we have sung, danced, organized events together with you, we have been friends, and we have even visited some of you in your homes. This fact cannot be erased. Those who tell you that we are the product of the devil are using manipulation to disturb the peace that exists between us and between all the diversities that exist in this society. But you and we know very well when someone is a good person and we know how to recognize good human values.

To the broader public: We, the LGBTIQ+ people, are not your problem. Young people are leaving this country, entire cities (like Kratovo) are being brain drained overnight because young people do not see a future in this country. We are not to blame for the corruption in this country, for how entire hospitals and burned with people inside before your eyes, for how the anti-gender activists sat at the same table with the killer of the young Vanja, for how whole families remain hungry and are on the edge of the most extreme poverty.

The simplest thing is to start an organized fight against the weakest and most vulnerable in this society such as LGBTIQ+ people. But at the end of the day, it will not bring you better living conditions in the country, it will not solve the problems in the health system, it will not bring you a piece of bread on the table, it will not stop your children from leaving their homes and going forever to the West to seek their future, thousands of kilometers away from home. On the contrary, keeping you defocused from the real problems, completely hypnotized in hatred against LGBTI+ people, against ethnic minorities, against women, against the most vulnerable, the mafia in this country will keep stealing from us, corruption will flourish, the state will fail, and LGBTIQ+ people (sometimes these are your loved ones) will always be an easy target for violence and an issue that will be used to take the focus away from real crime and real problems.

To all our known and unknown allies: We invite you to join our call for solidarity. The hatred we received we could not even imagine on what scale it could exist and how well organized it is. Therefore, we want to believe that there is also an organized front that stands in our support, that there is solidarity, that finally for us, as humans, there is a group of people that will say the following: "We stand firmly in support of Ekvalis’ employees, their members and activists, as well as the organization's commitment to work on topics related to providing safe spaces and opportunities to LGBTI+ youth. We demand that the state to punish the perpetrators of the crimes committed and those who organized the public to into violent ideas and calls for the death of human rights defenders. We demand that the state understands the consequences of the anti-gender movement as a national security risk for this country."

Any organization, institution, informal group, collective, academic community can stand in solidarity and give their support, by signing the letter available on this link: https://forms.gle/SbCVQMz2PBWsVJdu8

Finally: We are not backing down! While our bodies and souls are still recovering from this trauma, our organization has gained even greater motivation and strength, and our work has gained even greater confirmation that what we are doing is exactly what this country needs. We will not give up and will always work for every LGBTI+ young person to live a dignified and authentic life free of violence and hatred. We will not allow you to steal our stars, as you forbid us to look at them describing it as a biblical sin, we will not allow you to forbid us to dance, to play games, to learn from each other, to be ourselves and, ultimately, we will not allow you to erase us from the public space, because that space is equally ours.

Yours,

Ekvalis’ Team

Signatures in solidarity:

1. TransForma
2. Lepa Dimitrievska Lazova
3. Group “Come Out“ (Serbia)
4. Meduza- Feminist Platform
5. Jovan Josifovski (independent artist)
6. Sonja Stavrova
7. Ana Todorova
8. Coalition for sexual and health rights of the marginlized communities MARGINS Skopje
9. Olja Vojnovska
10. Meri Utkovska
11. Aleksandar Dimovski
12. Helsinki Comitteee for Human Rights in North Macedonia
13. Lila Milikj
14. Stella Network
15. Loesje e.V (Germany)
16. Aleksandar Micev
17. LGBTI Support Center
18. Association for protection of marginalized workers STAR- STAR Skopje
19. Loesje Bitola
20. Ivana Dragsikj
21. The Deepest Purple Club
22. Todor Trpevski
23. Andrej Misikj
24. InProcess (Serbia)
25. Antonija Dimitrievska
26. Vagina Corporation
27. Kai Gladkova
28. Ilya Lyn Gladkova
29. Rafiki (Germany)
30. Organization for Creative Grouping OKO (Serbia)
31. Ena Bendevska
32. ERA - LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey
33. Reactor- Research in Action
34. Center for Research and Policy Making
35. Ljubljana Pride Association (Slovenia)
36. Damjana Vidicheska
37. General Workers' Union GWU (Malta)
38. Trans Network Balkan (Western Balkans)
39. Association Spektra (Montenegro)
40. Nađa Duhaček (Serbia)
41. Jelena Jacimovic (Serbia)
42. Naida Kucukalic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
43. Zelena Omladina (Serbia)
44. Aleksandar Savić (Serbia)
45. Kolektiv MANA (Serbia)
46. Zavod TransAkcija (Slovenia)
47. The Аssociation for the Advancement of Journalistic Practices INNOVATIVE MEDIA Skopje
48. HOPS – Healthy Options Project Skopje
49. Nina Naumovska
50. Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement MGRM (Malta)
51. National network to end violence against women and domestic violence
52. HERA – Health Education and Research Association
53. Association Da Se Zna (Serbia)
54. Matija Stefanović (Serbia)
55. NEVER AGAIN Association (Poland)
56. Akcija Zdruzenska
57. Macedonian Young Lawyers Association
58. Ksenija Forca (Serbia)
59. Alex Elektra (Serbia)
60. Radmila Zivanovikj- Psihoterapika
61. Ognen Janeski - EU and CoE's No Hate Speech Ambassador for WB6
62. Ivan Nikolovski (Austria)
63. Association for Support of People Living with HIV – STRONGER TOGETHER
64. Aleksej Demjanski
65. Marija Kostadinova
66. Dragica Aftova
67. Association PETKAMEN - Center for the Development of Social Communications - Skopje
68. Menta Space (Bulgaria)
69. Dean Connolly (United Kingdom)
70. IGLYO (Belgium, Council of Europe Region)
71. Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Jugendverbände -SAJV (Switzerland)