Experience

Queerkaart.be offers map of queer safe(r) spaces in Flanders

Posted by Timothy on

In recent years, awareness has increased about the need for safe(r) spaces, environments where LGBTQIA+ people, among others, can be themselves. But where can you find safe(r) spaces in Flanders? It’s a question many LGBTQIA+ people and their allies are asking. Queerkaart.be tries to answer that question, with a clear map where people in and around the LGBTQIA+ community can look for and find safety.

There are – or perhaps were – many so-called gay maps of cities, showing queer bars, cafés, clubs, saunas, bathhouses, darkrooms, hotels, … catering to mostly gay men or other people engaging in gay activities. Queerkaart.be has a different angle. 

A survey by LGBTQIA+ organisations Wel Jong and çavaria within the Safe(er) and Trusted Environments (Veilige(re) en Vertrouwde Omgevingen) project revealed that LGBTQIA+ people do need safe(r) spaces, but do not always know where to find them. To meet this need, the project is launching Queerkaart.be.

This is an interactive, community-based, online map where gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex people and their allies can find safe(r) spaces, add spaces themselves and also leave reviews. Queerkaart must become a living tool for LGBTQIA+ people who are looking for a safe environment where they can be themselves.

Screenshot of Queerkaart.be.

Video series gives a face to safe(r) spaces

To further give a face to the diversity of people who work with safe(r) spaces, the project also created a video series. The online series, which consists of three episodes, interviews 10 organizations about what safety means to them, how they create safety and why they find it so important. In the first video, which is now online, you will recognise Lotus Li from Untold Asian Stories, Charlie and Maïté from the FLINTA party concept Female Boyfriends and the people behind the queer and feminist café Blond from Ghent.

FLINTA is an acronym which originated in the Berlin queer scene and means “Frauen, Lesben, Intergeschlechtliche, nichtbinäre, trans und agender Personen” or Female, Lesbian, Intersex, Trans and Agender persons. 

Queerkaart.be is an addition to the toolbox on safe(r) spaces that was already published in March. With these tools, other organizations and initiatives in and around the LGBTQIA+ community in Flanders can work to facilitate safe(r) spaces.

Queer Belgium