Welcome to the new and improved LGBTI+ Gozo blog, Beyond the Closet, created by young queer Gozitans, about young queer Gozitans, for young queer Gozitans!
This is a space where LGBTQIA+ people can learn, grow, share, and connect through the art of the written word. Writing can be a safe space to share your story, especially in a place where silence and stigma are regular parts of everyday life. Even though we have more representation and visibility than our LGBTQIA+ ancestors who came before us, layers of shame and discrimination are still very present for many of our family members, both here on the Maltese islands and around the world. It may feel that the world is getting smaller and smaller each day, with the hateful and continual barrage of anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric. It can sometimes feel like the world is an unsafe space for our community, particularly for young people still figuring out who they are.
We hope this blog will serve as a safe, compassionate, and connecting space for our community. By sharing stories and experiences, we can forge together a sense of belonging and empowerment in a world that seems to always be against us. Here you can speak freely about your experiences, thoughts, feelings, challenges, and triumphs, and even use this space to share any creative projects, writings, or stories, based within your reality or fictional episodes, that speak to the queer experience. Share your advice for younger generations, your messages for the future, and your voice that deserves to be hear.
Submission Guidelines:
All people, regardless of their orientation, are welcome to submit their voices. LGBTQIA+ people, family members, teachers, professionals, and others from the diverse community here in Gozo have the space to contribute their voices here. Particular consideration will be given to LGBTQIA+ voices, especially marginalized groups such as migrants, trans and non binary folks, and other less represented colours of our rainbow.
We will accept writing between 300-1000 words per submission, in either Maltese or English. Posts are completely anonymous and confidential to ensure privacy for our writers, unless you would be comfortable being listed as the author of your piece. It is completely up to you!
We will accept all kinds of writing: poems, stories, proses, diary entries, letters, and every written medium in between will be accepted! Posts will be scheduled each month and will be featured on our website and social media accounts.
To submit, send your writing in a Microsoft Word document to lgbtigozo@gmail.com
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