A lot of the time, the Middle East is seen as just a backwards place where gay people get killed and where we have no aspirations, there is no hope and there's no optimism. But that's why I'm still here. I mean, I could be just going to Canada and get asylum and just be done with it - right? - and live a really open life. But that's not what I want to do. You know? I want to stay here, and I want to fight for my people. I want to build the society where it's OK for someone like me to speak up and not have to worry about dying.

Esra'a Al-Shafei

Categorized in : Mean Fighting Gay

Gay pride is not going to change anybody's mind. It's not going to create a discussion. It's really sometimes even considered provocative where people say you're pushing it, you know, onto our faces.

Esra'a Al-Shafei

gay pride people

I have absolutely nothing against gay parades, but I just want to have a different conversation that actually involves the people who are likely to harm us, you know? And I want them to know what we're going through.

Esra'a Al-Shafei

gay different people

I'm tired of living in the shadows of what my society and even th... by Esra'a Al-Shafei

I'm tired of living in the shadows of what my society and even the world expects of me.

Esra'a Al-Shafei

tired shadow world

I don't owe anyone an apology for who I am, for who I love and wh... by Esra'a Al-Shafei

I don't owe anyone an apology for who I am, for who I love and what I believe.

Esra'a Al-Shafei

apology who-i-am believe

Being a Cree woman in a society that violently rejects it is empowering, not weakening. It makes us fight harder and louder to make a mark in our world to show everyone else that we're present and we matter.

Esra'a Al-Shafei

empowering our-world fighting

Living in Bahrain, there is no distraction. The injustices surround you, and you can choose to ignore it. But it's going to haunt you.

Esra'a Al-Shafei

bahrain injustice distraction