Global Roundup: IWD Marches in Mexico, Turkey & Cameroon, Greek LGBTQ Community Protest, US LGBTQ Book Bans
Curated by FG Contributor Samiha Hosssain
Women chanted as they marched through Mexico City on International Women's Day March, March 8, 2024. [Lexie Harrison-Cripps/Al Jazeera]
An 180,000-strong crowd in Mexico City marched and chanted together on International Women’s Day. The chants were amplified by megaphones or voices directed upward, faces turned to the sky. With arms in the air, they yelled about their strength in numbers, the lack of police protection and their intent to fight for their rights: “No somos una, no somos diez! ¡Somos un chingo, cuéntanos bien!” (“We are not one. We are not 10. We are a shitload, count us right.”). Ileana Alvarez Mendoza, 40, attended the march with her 10-year-old daughter, Emiliana Leyva Alvarez.
There are so many women. How can the government say we aren’t that many? - Ileana Alvarez Mendoza
A group of women at the side of the march near Mexico City’s opera house, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, stood coated in streaks of purple paint, holding up signs saying “Paint me if you have been abused.” A never-ending line waited patiently to take a turn with the paint brushes.
Mehida Perez Martínez, a 45-year-old from Cuernavaca, a town near Mexico City, said she was marching for her children and for herself, explaining that she lives in a safe area in Mexico City but is “constantly aware of the men surrounding me”. The mother of three, who joined the Amnesty International contingent of women, was dressed in a lilac tank top and baseball cap. She marched holding a sign that said, “My mom taught me to fight for my rights”.
The march ended in Mexico City’s central square — the Zocalo — that is overlooked by government buildings and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Behind heavy-duty metal barriers with overhanging metal lips, hundreds of police lined up, standing far enough back to avoid the near-constant barrage of plastic cups, rubbish, flashbangs and purple flares being lobbed by angry protesters. Taking advantage of any openings in the barriers, women taunted the police, showing their middle fingers or pushing lit cardboard banners through the gaps.
A protester holds her finger up to the hundreds of police lined up safely away from the metal wall as other women bang and chant. [Lexie Harrison-Cripps/Al Jazeera]
A group of women dressed in black with balaclavas and ski masks, referred to as the “Black Block”, slammed hammers against the metal fence.
They represent the part of feminism that is angry. We tried to have our voices heard, but it did nothing. Yes, we are angry and we have a right to be so. We are tired, angry and mad. -Mehida Perez Martínez
It was the first march for 10-year-old Emiliana Leyva Alvarez, but she said she hopes to go to more. Wearing pink socks and a purple T-shirt, she noted it was exciting to be there and “attend something that matters to everyone, not just to one person”. She said she thinks things will change because of the march, “even if it’s just a small thing”.
Women shout slogans during a protest to mark International Women's Day in Istanbul, Turkey, March 8, 2024. Khalil Hamra/AP
Thousands of women took to the streets of Istanbul, Turkey, to mark International Women's Day despite a ban by the government, demanding equality and change of laws to protect women and help them gain their rights in the country and around the world. Waving purple flags, they filled the air with slogans and rallying cries. "The world would shake if women were free," "Resist for rebellion, resist for freedom," and "Woman, Life, Freedom," they chanted.
While the police had blocked access to the streets leading to the protest location several hours ahead, some women said they figured out their own ways to get there and participate in the protest.
I have been here in this coffee shop today at 1 pm to make it here at 7:30 pm. Women's rights are basically nonexistent in Turkey right now. -Irem, 35
Turkey was the first country to join the Istanbul Convention in March 2012 which aims at preventing gender-based violence by setting legally binding standards to protect victims and punish perpetrators. However, 9 years later, in 2021, Turkey became the first and only country that left the convention in a decision made by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Islamic leaning government who believed the treaty eroded their conservative values.
Irem said the Turkish government has been backsliding in terms of women's rights and mentioned the rising number of femicide cases across Turkey over the past 10 to 15 years. According to We Will Stop Femicide, a prominent activist group in Turkey, 338 women have been murdered since March 2023, and 248 died under suspicious circumstances.
Protestors called for more unity among women and for finding ways to get out of the situation and make things better for women and members of minority groups such as the LGBTOAI community. Yagmour, a young protestor who wore an all-purple outfit and makeup, said she has attended the International Women's Day protests in different cities of Turkey over the years. Despite her disappointment with the government's policies, she said she keeps up her hopes in women's power from around the world to pay attention to each other and also to the situation in Turkey.
Photo: Rachel’s Field Notes
Thousands of Cameroonian women were out on the streets on International Women’s Day to press for more access to education and economic opportunity, as well as an end to harmful prejudices and practices. About 30,000 women came out, many wore special green and yellow gowns bearing the slogan “Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress.” The women also sang about longing to be free and achieving true equality with men. Rights activist Muma Bih Yvonne said women want to end the perception that they should be limited to child rearing, domestic chores and farm work.
Women just want a level playing ground. Women want equal opportunities; women want that the gender gap that has been delaying for so long should be bridged. If you have a female and a male child, give them the same responsibilities, level the playing ground. -Muma Bih Yvonne
Muma added that illiteracy among women remains high because many families still prefer to send only boys to school. Protesters said the practice blocks women from positions in public offices in which literacy is a requirement. They also criticize that men own more than 85% of land in Cameroon and will sell it only to other men or hand it over only to their sons.
In hopes of changing long-established practices, organizers of the rally invited several hundred men, including traditional rulers who impose what the women describe as inhumane treatment on widows. Ernest Akuofou, an adviser to the traditional rulers of Ndop in Cameroon’s North-West region, said after listening to the demonstrators that he is convinced women should be given the same opportunities as men.
In my village community it is just recently that women have been admitted to the level of notability. Why is it only now? Even as they are admitted at that level, the treatment given to them is not commensurate. That is why men are using the stereotypes on them: 'Why do you go to talk politics [when] you are supposed to be in my kitchen?' Those are the stereotypes; those are the things which push women to the background. -Ernest Akuofou
Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa, Cameroonian minister of Women’s Empowerment and Family, said President Paul Biya is committed to improving the conditions of women. However, she noted that they need to do more to ensure that girls finish school.
The attack took place on Saturday night when a mob of close to 200 black-clad youths cursed, spat and threw bottles as they pursued a young trans couple. The duo ultimately took refuge in a nearby restaurant until the police arrived on the scene. At least 21 suspects have been arrested so far.
On Sunday night, a stirring coalition of LGBTQ activists, women’s groups, student organizations and others showed their defiance, their chants echoing through the streets in a protest that only seemed to gain momentum as the night went on. Waving rainbow flags, carrying banners denouncing homophobia and transphobia and chanting protest slogans, the demonstration wound through the streets of the seaside city.
I thought some things would have changed, but now I wonder, have things changed? -Maria Katsikadakou, lesbian activist and filmmaker
This year’s edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival includes a wide-ranging tribute to queer cinema, “Citizen Queer,” while an honorary Golden Alexander award is being bestowed upon Greek filmmaker Panayotis Evangelidis, whose work has long focused on the visibility of the LGBTQ community.
The incident took place just weeks after the historic passage of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Greece, a first for an Orthodox Christian country. While that legislation has been widely praised as progress in the struggle for equal rights for Greece’s LGBTQ community, activists and filmmakers have expressed their skepticism about such “top-down” legislation, which provides important and necessary legal protections for queer Greeks but doesn’t address the underlying threats they face in daily life.
With these new laws, we are at a crossroads and we’re going to see what all this really means for Greek society in the next few years. I don’t personally think these laws reflect where Greece is as a society. And if anything, this event shows that the fact that some people may benefit from the new laws does not change Greek reality in general and especially for trans people. -Fil Ieropoulos, conceptual artist and filmmaker
Local activists are now looking ahead to June, when the city is slated to host EuroPride. Katsikadakou, who helped curate the festival’s “Citizen Queer” tribute, expressed her hope that “we flood the city with angry queers [who] will have no fucking tolerance for fascist, homophobic, racist acts…[and will] come with force and put these stupid people back in their caves where they belong.” Meanwhile, organizers of the annual Thessaloniki Pride event insisted they would not be cowed, posting on the group’s Facebook page: “It is up to all of us to mobilize and show solidarity, so as not to let fear return to Thessaloniki! We are not ashamed, we are not hiding, we are not afraid!”
A bookstore in the US is fighting back against LGBTQ book bans across the country. When people walk into Fabulosa Books in San Francisco’s famous Castro district their jaws drop, staff say, because they are surprised – and happy – to see so many queer books on display.
We have what I call the ‘Big Gay Wall’ and it’s all LGBTQ+ content. We have big glittery letters that say L–G–B–T–Q–+. A lot of bookstores these days carry queer books but they’re sort of mixed in, and we want people to really feel seen, welcome and represented. Stories save lives. This is my mantra. We are trying to serve the community in a meaningful sense. -Becka, staff member
Bookshop proprietor, Alvin, says customers come from across the US and all over the world, where certain books have been censored, and places where they don’t even have a local bookstore any more. The shocked reaction of customers is often down to the rise in LGBTQ+ book bans sweeping towns, cities and states throughout the US.
The store’s Books Not Bans programme sends boxes of LGBTQ+ books to queer organisations in conservative areas, who work directly with the community, giving access to those who want to read the works. Since it was launched last May, the programme has sent boxes to LGBTQ+ centres in states such as Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama and South Carolina. The importance of the programme amid waves of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is palpable, especially following the recent death of Two Spirit/gender-non-conforming teen Nex Benedict, in Oklahoma.
LGBTQ+ folks in much of the country face a very difficult daily reality and are in a very real sense, not safe…They’re facing danger every single day just by existing and they need to get through, they need to survive, and these stories not only can instil within them a sense of resilience and hope but if people around them also read them, they will be more loved, understood and accepted. -Becka
Samiha Hossain (she/her) is an aspiring urban planner studying at Toronto Metropolitan University. Throughout the years, she has worked in nonprofits with survivors of sexual violence and youth. Samiha firmly believes in the power of connecting with people and listening to their stories to create solidarity and heal as a community. She loves learning about the diverse forms of feminist resistance around the world.