“I really want to leave this place. I am drowning. I cannot breathe. I am not happy here. I have a feeling that a wind started blowing and I was left outside” – writes my friend that has been abandoned by her country, and now is considering abandoning her home, friends and family. Meanwhile I cannot come up with a single sentence, with which I could at least cheer her up or slightly alleviate the chaos in their mind.
I am heartbroken. My friend is miserable. Her quarantine began way earlier, than anyone can imagine. She has been living isolated, like a bird inside a cage, for years now and she doesn’t have a specific date in timeline on how long she has to live like this. Virus that is rampant in our country (and not only here) cannot be treated like Covid-19 and no vaccine will ever stop it. That’s why this person has to sit in her windowless room and wonder about where to run.
My friend was born on a cool autumn day with restless, sad eyes and a kind heart. Years later I was born too. We became friends. For me that’s enough of a reason to justify our birth. I do not want her to go anywhere. She is strong. I can always rely on her. She is like a solid wall, and she is not in danger of collapsing yet. But besides the publicly exposed strong side, she also has her weaknesses, that are impossible to be noticed by a foreign eye. My friend is unhappy and one day she might just kill herself. “We don’t know the reason, we had no idea” – will the others say. Only few of us will know the horrid truth, but we will dare not say a word. Abandoned by her, I will want to leave the country as well. Unless I turn out to be the next victim and someone naively shrugs their shoulders and says– “well, we don’t get why a girl full of life would do such a thing”.
My friend understands very well that the strongest weapon is a word. Sadly, the word doesn’t reach those person’s ears that actually use weapons instead of words, like a well-known stool for example. Therefore, she can’t stand in the streets with banners in her hands, nor can she shout until her voice is muffled, that this country is hers too, that she longs for freedom and is tired of hiding. Given the current situation, can anyone judge her for being afraid, hiding and retreating?
This is one of the main reasons of why I am planning on going to the march of solidarity. The voice of my friend needs to be heard and if she cannot do it on her own, I will be the one who will voice her thoughts. The march of solidarity is a chance to stand side by side with each other, talk about the most important issues that queer people encounter every day. It wouldn’t be right to miss this opportunity.
Our unity is essential. “It will be a step forward not only for queer people, but also for our friends, friends of friends, family members, supporters and, in general, those who want to live in a better, equal, tolerant country.”
