Is it just because of our sexual orientation?

I still live in fear and when I saw their injuries I felt very sad because it can still happen to anyone. We get rejected a lot and sometimes I ask myself this question, what did we do so wrong?

My whole family rejected me, for who I was. Since the age of 12 I have been attracted to girls, but I had my first experience at 23. All these years I have been stifled. At the age of nine I was sent into a forced marriage, it was at the age of 20 that I was able to escape from there, from the clutches of my parents. I suffered the worst humiliations possible and at least today I have my freedom even if I have a very long way to go, I know I will get there.

My story is very long, here is the short version. I ask my LGBTQI+ community crucial link not to abandon me, I am moving forward but I don’t really know where I am going. I need to integrate, have a job to support myself and at the same time Greece traumatises me a lot due to the way in which I am treated in Samos. I hope the future will be different, otherwise I ask my community to take me to any country. I dream of having a girlfriend, traveling and living freely.

Aled’s Story “Welcome to the Open”

Two years ago, when I was 23, I was accidentally outed as gay and I had to flee home. I had some time to see my best friends and say goodbye before leaving them for good…

I was physically and sexually enslaved so that they could earn money from me

The same goes to my twin sibling and my very old parents who would never accept seeing a homosexual person on TV/internet, let alone a family member sharing the same roof.

It escalated so fast. I literally had to arrange the flight/goodbye gathering all together – in the airport. Even though I was leaving my family, my job and just before I was due to start my masters I felt so lucky I could make it out safe and alive before the news spread. However, little did I know, it would be even worse in Turkey.

Too many bad things happened there. I try hard not to remember them, not to think about them… but I will never forget.

I will never forget when the Turkish Coastguards locked me up with men who claimed to be from a terrorist organisation in the same cell.

That first night they woke us all up and made us pray, only after forcing me to take off my earring and throwing it in the toilet. It was really the last thing I had from my boyfriend. But I knew it wouldn’t really help saying so, that it would only put me in more danger.

I just kept a low profile, hiding who I was, until I could make it to the Greek side, to the European lands, where I thought human rights were respected and I could live safe and free. But I bet you guessed already, after too many failed attempts I finally made it, but only for it to get even worse.

The first time I made it to Greece, I had by that time passed the land borders from Turkey to Greece only to be caught by the Greeks and only after they had beaten me first. After this I finally made it to Samos.

There’s so much more to my story. Writing this has brought back too many bad memories. I really feel a bit unlucky I had to come to this life with this certain sexual orientation, where I am treated so badly for it.