IGLYO on SOCIAL MEDIA ISSUE 18 summer 2012 WWW.IGLYO.COM 2 INTRODUCTION Despina Michaelidou Jordan Long Dear Members, Friends, and Partners of IGLYO, in 2011, IGLYO held an event at Roma EuroPride titled ‘Friend Me, Don’t Tag Me, Poke Me: LGBTQ Young People and Social Media. With give panelists from across Europe, we discussed the themes that arise for young people in a world increasingly connected by social media. Many topics were brought to light, and while no conclusions were made, all of the panelists agreed: the internet is not going anywhere, and it should be used deliberately and constructively for LGBTQ young people. this issue of IGLYO On… continues to explore the topic of social me- dia and the internet. The world of social media is constantly changing, but these contributors offer some insight into the situation right now—and how the online world intersects with the world of LGBTQ young people. Our contributors come from all over the world, and each person dives into a different aspect of the interconnected world of online media and its influence on the LGBTQ community. our first two contributors explore the impact of the internet and social media on community development. From Australia, Micah Scott discusses how online social platforms have helped young LGBTQ people in his country to access community no matter where they are, leading to fighting homophobia in online forums that spill into ‘real life’. Gavyn Dean Sims tells us how discovering YouTube channels that documented the transition process gave him strength – and the idea to produce his own transitioning story on YouTube. contents MICAH GAVYN YIORGOS 4 SCOTT 6 SIMS 9KAKOURIS The Impact of This TransGuy’s Seeds of Commu- Social Media on Dance With Internet nity – LGBT Rights and LGBTQI young people Based Social Networking Social Media in Cyprus IGLYO on social media 3 the next two contributors highlight the impact of social media on LGBTQ advocacy in their respective countries. Yiorgos Kakouris tells us how social media has enabled Cypriot queer people to transcend the social boundaries that usually exist in the culture—including the boundaries between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Tatevik Khachatryan discussed how social media has mobilized the community in Armenia, providing a platform for information gathering that empowers civil society to put pressure on the government. finally, our final two contributors untangle the impact of social media from a theoretical vantage point. Rohit Dasgupta in India talks about how the internet has provided an alternate public forum for young LGBTQ people to come out in the absence of a supportive social climate. Finally, our contributor Lena looks at the ways the internet has not only become a source for community development and support, but also a source for accurate information on sexual and emotional health—particularly in the absence of comprehensive education systems. the iglyo editorial team has greatly enjoyed reading these per- spectives, and we hope that you do too! In solidarity, Despina Michaelidou and Jordan Long TATEVIK ROHIT LENA 12 KHACHATRYAN 14DASGUPTA 17 CHEN Meeting New Some Initial Queer Youth and Challenges Through Reflection on Identity Formation in Social Media in Armenia New Queer Media the Age of the Internet 4 MICAH SCOTT Australia THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON LGBTQI YOUNG PEOPLE my first social media remember standing at my locker profile was on Myspace. Don’t during lunch, and watching hun- laugh; we’ve all had one. dreds of people race past me. Not Whether your first profile is on a single one of them knew I was Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or gay; likewise, I couldn’t tell if any something else, it doesn’t take of them were like me either. long to realise how easily you can For an LGBTQI young person MICAH SCOTT connect with other people all over to go online and have these fears Australia the world from the privacy of vanish is an incredibly empow- your bedroom. Being gay, it didn’t ering thing. In Australia, 85% Micah Scott, 23, take me long to search for other of same sex attracted young is heading up the LGBTQI people either. people have had the confidence webWise Cyber More than 69%1 of all LGBT- to disclose their sexuality online Safety as part of Rainbow Network QI young people in Australia will – not uncommonly to people they Victoria at Gay and experience some form of homo- haven’t met before. Lesbian Health phobic abuse, most commonly at Yet, when this online-confi- Victoria, as part school, at home, or on the street. dence doesn’t manifest itself in of the Australian It’s little wonder then why 76% of ‘real life’, it can lead to what some Research Centre us go online to seek refuge, and young people describe as “living in Sex, Health and find out about the things that are double lives.” Society at La Trobe a little too awkward to ask Dad. Brad, 18 years old, describes University. When trying to figure out it. “When I was younger I used who you are and what you like, the internet to compartmentalise it can feel as though gender and my sexuality, as the ‘gay me’ only sexual identity are completely existed online. This left the real invisible during everyday life. I me often at a loss without the IGLYO ON social media 5 internet and without any ‘real’ gay to your views isn’t just becoming friends, I felt quite lonely.”2 common place, it’s becoming an Curiously, while Facebook expectation. and Google+ have taken steps to It’s opened the platform for push for a deeper reconciliation a level of activism and market- between “real life” and “online ing that, until now, really hasn’t life” (even going as far as to force been seen. Videos of presidents, you to use your real name), sites musicians, and celebrities telling like Tumblr have made their mark LGBTQI young people that “it by offering online spaces where gets better” have been seen tens you can remain anonymous, or of millions of times worldwide, reinvent yourself entirely – and and for a young person watching this has resulted in a pretty high them, it’s pretty awesome stuff. uptake amongst LGBTQI young There’s certainly something people. inspiring about a university stu- dent designing an anti-homopho- as more and more people bia poster as a class assignment go online from their phone, the that gets reblogged and makes references alter egos that some people metic- international news. 1 Hillier, L., et al. ulously invent are no longer just (2010) Writing for online. Whether safe or not, not everything is positive Themselves in 3, Melbourne, exploring sexuality anonymously though. For every message sup- Australia: ARC- is as easy as logging into Grindr/ porting young people, a negative SHS (La Trobe Qrushr and going to someone’s one seems to exist. You can’t University) hotel room (or in some cases, watch a clip on YouTube without 2 Hillier, L., et al. firing up your webcam and never being spammed by poorly spelt, (2010) Writing leaving the house). The negative homophobic abuse, and websites Themselves in stigma behind making “real life” exist solely as a platform for small 3, Melbourne, Australia: ARC- friends (or hook-ups) from online groups to have a go at diversity SHS (La Trobe is really a thing of the past. and equal rights. University) The positive side is of course But this doesn’t seem to be that like-minded people from all fazing us too much. There’s a over the world are able to con- growing trend that while we’ll nect, and share their thoughts, most likely experience homo- ideas and attitudes with each phobia at some stage in our life, other. In a world where 100,000 we’re more likely to do something views on YouTube isn’t very about it – online or otherwise. many, and 20,000 notes on a And hey – there’s a pretty pic of your junk isn’t out of the good chance that when we speak ordinary, having the world listen up our voices going to be heard. 6 GAVYN DEAN SIMS USA THIS TRANSGUY’S DANCE WITH INTERNET BASED SOCIAL NETWORKING in my days as a youth of the question. She was either incredibly LGBT community very few of us brave, or very ignorant about the had heard of cell phones and even propensity for queer violence people fewer of us actually had one. Social that lived in this town had. media as it is known today did n ot We told her about the only gay exist. There was no Facebook, no club in town, a very hole in the Myspace and definitely no YouTube. wall hush hush establishment. She We were fortunate if we could get seemed very relieved and excited our grubby little hands on a queer that we could provide an answer to focused magazine. That in itself was her question. I managed to ask her a supremely exciting occurrence if it before she ran back to her vehicle did happen. We had books mostly why she had come up to us and and that was about it. asked us this question of all people. It was next to impossible to find Her answer was short and to the others within the LGBT community point, she chuckled and said, “Be- without coming right out and asking cause ya’ll have short hair silly.” and potentially placing yourself in So, back in my day, that appar- danger. I remember one day getting ently was another way to tell if a into my older friend’s car in the mall woman was playing on our side of parking lot to leave and this girl ran the fence – if they had short hair.