absurdity

in environmental science, we talk about "queer theory" as a lens that helps us break down arbitrary boundaries between things. what is natural? can human-made things be natural? is a log cabin natural? what about a beaver dam? why? should those things really be a binary?

in educational research, it's used to look at study results in new ways: you didn't get the results you thought you would, but what did you get? what does that say? does it need to be a "yes/no" answer, or is there more to it than that?

categories of art work the same way; "art" can mean "fine art", it can mean "visual arts", it can refer to any kind of art (music, dance, theater, writing, etc.). it can even refer to anything done skillfully; "the art of...". The term is fluid, the categories are flexible, and what fits where is not a binary.

"queer theory" is about broadening your perspective, welcoming complicated truths, and questioning binaries. it's about accepting non-understanding.

So I thought it might be a good opportunity to highlight some organisations that are working to promote Roma rights, and some ways, alongside donating, that you might be able to support them.

The European Roma Rights Centre carries out strategic litigation to support Roma rights, as well as doing advocacy and research. You can sign up to volunteer for them here; one volunteer-run project currently live is called Challenging Digital Antigypsyism, and focuses on identifying and reporting hate speech on social media platforms.

On a similar theme, Minority Rights Group International has a campaign toolkit on countering cyberhate against Roma. The focus of the campaign is Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

In the UK, Friends, Families and Travellers works to end racism and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and to protect the right to pursue a nomadic way of life. If you're in the UK, you can ask your MP to sign their pledge card. And if you witness discriminatory comments in politics, you can report that here.