Nisnis is coming soon: “Chosen families” issue

“You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family,” the old adage goes. 

If we are lucky, we are born into a family that is understanding, loving and supporting. For most of us LGBTQ+ Ethiopians, this is unfortunately not the case. Our families, even when they are well meaning, are often the first to act against us and in ways that harm us.

Fortunately for us, as queer people, we have learned resilience and ways to resist the hate and marginalization that is a constant in our lives. One of the ways we have learned to resist is by creating our own communities. In the tradition of queer people all over the world, Ethiopian queer people have long created their own chosen families. 

Chosen families are defined as “nonbiological kinship bonds, whether legally recognized or not, deliberately chosen for the purpose of mutual support and love”. 

Who is in our chosen family?  How do we create them? What benefits do they provide us? How can we make them stronger? How do we celebrate them? These questions and more will be the focus of the latest issue of Nisnis scheduled to be published this week.

We hope you will enjoy it and find it encouraging and uplifting.

Please follow the link for past issues of Nisnis: Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4

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