Photojournalist Fahrinisa Campana heads to Athens to meet the LGBT+ refugees who are trying to make ends meet – and find acceptance – in a deeply conservative Greek society.
“Nobody here cares about us.”
As the afternoon light pierces through the blinds and into the gloomy darkness of the bedroom, Y., a 28-year-old transgender refugee from Morocco, sits on a bed playing games on her friend’s phone. The others watch TV, smoking cigarettes relentlessly.
Y., whose name has been withheld for safety reasons, looks almost angelic. But there’s a heaviness to the atmosphere – a feeling that has as much to do with the light that struggles to enter the dark room as with the fact that only a few days earlier, Y. broke her phone in an argument with her Greek boyfriend. To make matters worse, she’s misplaced her house keys, and the cash card – which she receives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the first day of every month – isn’t working. She’s down to her last few euros and getting desperate.
Unable to call anyone, check her social media, or even get into her own house, Y. sits in silence sulking for most of the day. Everything her friends said, though not directed at her, only seems to increase her frustration. Finally, she leaves the room.
Full story here.