According to the study, one third of those belonging to gender and sexual minorities living in Finland experienced harassment. Artist Ani Iivanainen has decided not to let fear stop her from making art.
Photographer Ani Iivanainen wanted to tell on social media about his upcoming show. He had photographed gender and sexual minorities, ie rainbow people, and now the time and place for the exhibition had been agreed at the Helsinki hotel.
Iivanainen, a rainbow man himself, shared a few photos from the upcoming show on her Instagram account.
The publications quickly attracted trolls to the scene: provocative commentators who, behind the nicknames, questioned the injustices experienced by minorities.
Why should your rights always be raised? Is Finland not the most equal country in the world? These are examples of typical messages.
“The posts and comments highlighted, for example, that the commentator did not think sexuality and gender diversity existed. Some of the posts were threatened with things I don’t want to repeat. I have reported them as hate speech, ”Iivanainen says. He just doesn’t want to give more media space to hate speech.
Discriminatory comments also increase minority stress, which means a burden of prejudice, discrimination, and constant fear of violence, among other things.
Read more: Akira Ahola comes “out of the closet” almost every day – It feels like you have to explain your own identity to strangers over and over again
HS has seen some of the comments that Iivanainen has since deleted. He wants to keep his social media account a safe place for everyone.
“
“I shouldn’t have to think about whether it’s safe for me to have a photo exhibition, for example.”
Iivanainen is frustrated, but not surprised by the comments about her pictures. Opening during Pride Week, lasting all of July We are – We are is not his first exhibition on the subject.
In 2019, Iivanainen had a photo exhibition on transgender and other sex. The following year, a short documentary on the same subject was released.
These art projects also provoked the same reactions.
“I have made a conscious choice not to be silent or to stop making art because of these reactions. But I should not have to think about whether it is safe for me to organize a photo exhibition, for example, ”Iivanainen says.
But society is not safe for gender and sexual minorities anyway, Iivanainen points out.
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights according to the survey One third of people belonging to gender and sexual minorities living in Finland had experienced harassment in 2019. One-fifth of trans- and intersex respondents experienced physical or sexual violence, and one in ten of sexual minorities.
In 2020, 852 hate crimes were recorded in Finland. Of these, 5.4 percent were related to the victim’s sexual orientation and 2.6 percent to the victim’s gender identity.
On the other hand, the violence experienced by rainbow people often does not come to the attention of the authorities. According to surveys, only 16 percent of victims of violent hate crime have reported the incident to police.
The threat of discrimination and violence increases if a person belongs to more than one minority – for example, if he or she has a disability or bipoc. The term Bipoc is an abbreviation of the English words black, indegenous and people of color, and refers to all groups of non-white people.
Of these Ani Iivanainen would like to see statistics become equality.
She wants to show through her art how diverse the community of gender and sexual minorities is.
The people in the pictures in the exhibition were allowed to determine for themselves what they wanted to bring out and how they would be portrayed.
“This show is a show of love from a rainbow man to a rainbow community. I want to make our existence visible, ”Iivanainen says.
However, the target group is not only members belonging to minorities, but Iivanainen also hopes that representatives of the majority will be present. His hope is that through art, people would wake up to reflect on what they themselves can do for equality and non-discrimination.
Ani Iivanainen is pleased that the exhibition will be on display at the Klaus K Hotel. The hotel is committed to promoting equality and Iivanainen is confident that it will do so.
Iivanainen would especially like to see more of everyday activities. That everyone intervenes in discriminatory speech or contemptuous use of language, even if no one in the minority is hearing it. Often, at the expense of minorities, interfering in jokes or using derogatory names remains the responsibility of the minorities themselves.
“Many are silent even though they recognize the offensive speech because it is so uncomfortable to intervene. But it is never as distressing or frightening as it is for those affected by violent speech. ”
On your own From his Instagram account, Iivanainen removes all provocative comments and sometimes also closes comments.
“Yes, I have learned to recognize if a person really wants to know more. That’s when the question usually starts with ‘hey, I’d like to understand better’ or otherwise appreciatively. I may answer them if time and resources allow. I never provoke, ”Iivanainen says.
According to Iivanainen, people belonging to minorities are exhausted from having to constantly teach others. Usually, he tries to direct those interested in the subject, for example, to Seta’s training materials.
“Through comments on my images, it has become apparent that there are still a lot of people who don’t understand what it is like to belong to one or more minorities in our society. Rainbow people, people with disabilities and bipoco people, for example, have had to fight for their own fundamental rights, ”says Iivanainen.
Iivanainen hopes that Pride Week will not only have to defend the human rights of minorities. He would also like to celebrate his own rainbow family of his choice.
#Pride #Ani #Iivanainens #photos #set #motion #dark #forces #internet #Messages #threatened #dont #repeat
