Eressos Connected
is actually a fb class when it comes down to society in Skala Eressos, a beachside community on Island of
Lesbos
, Greece. Town is breathtakingly gorgeous: traditional tavernas and bars line the seafront, deposits of sunlight glow throughout the drinking water as people take in fresh fish and toast another cloudless day in utopia. Additionally it is a
lesbian utopia


; queer ladies are every where and there’s a (record-breaking) three lesbian bars on the main strip.

meet local lesbians, Greek people, and hippies live amicably alongside one another, all acknowledging that the is among the only spots around where lesbians can visit discover strong, true, lasting area. All factions use the Facebook party for common area company: determining scruffy canines, renting residences, appealing individuals to beach volleyball competitions, or impulsive lesbian weddings.

A month or more before, this site had a swell of activity as folks smelt something burning up, “will there be a flame?” they wrote. “we smell it,” they noticed — “strong smoke smell.” A day later, news trickled in, striking headlines across European countries, and soon the sole articles on Eressos Connected stressed the massive fire in Moria, Greece’s largest refugee camp, one hour and a half from the the small lesbian destination.

The camp, built to hold 3,000 folks, is actually house — from inside the most short-term, unsanitary, and unpleasant feeling of the word — to 13,000 people: destitute men and women, refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants fleeing war, impoverishment, or oppressive leaderships. They watch for long times, looking to have their particular applications provided for them to permeate the highly militarized and increasingly impervious fortress around Europe.

Refugees do not want to maintain Lesbos. Natives feel incapacitated because of the influx of people here. Tourism (the island’s major revenue) has become stunted by the unfolding situation, while Covid has actually almost brought it to a standstill. Islanders think betrayed because of the Greek federal government; the us government seems betrayed by other European countries. The problem is complicated and strong, the movement of individuals from worldwide South with the worldwide North is only within its infancy.

The Flame

Trying to discern reality from fiction on Eressos Connected (as with every huge social networking team) is actually complicated. Intuitions, truths, and half-truths merge together, sparking passionate spiels, hot keyboard debates, hugging, weeping, and raging emojis. No-one’s certain just who began it and exactly how the
flame began.
Many think it was purposely ready — by asylum candidates maybe, sick and tired of living in purgatory, enraged from the camp’s current isolation commands (after 35 Moria residents tried positive for Covid). Some say it had been set by right-wingers, the authorities, the residents. We may never know needless to say. The fire undeniably caused considerable harm. Some zones survived, others tend to be ash and dirt. Images of burnt asylum programs are especially haunting — the prospect having to begin all over again.

Greek authorities have actually built a parameter across camp to avoid individuals from finding shelter in local villages. You will find refugees showing for his or her freedom, your abolition of Moria. Residents in the remaining and right are demanding exactly the same thing. Army helicopters tends to be heard overhead. You can find research of police putting tear-gas and photographs of refugees flowing coca-cola on their burning up sight. Lesbos is in a situation of crisis. Tonight, many people are sleeping on roadsides and gas programs. A few mountain ranges out, in Skala Eressos, the lesbians are located in Flamingo Beach Bar.

The Sinking Titanic

The lesbian area in Skala Eressos is actually intercontinental and intergenerational: 70 season olds from Paris, 40 season olds from Cape Town, 20 year olds from Athens. You can find females of numerous governmental persuasions and financial scenarios: personal employees and general public equity attorneys, cleaners and designers, fitness trainers from swanky fitness centers in Berlin, ascetic-wandering yogis from Goa. Are all addicted to this one. Skala is within the bloodstream; simple fact is that nearest thing to a house many folks have.

Less pubs tend to be available this present year, so there are fewer women than typical. All of us took a risk popping in, and sitting in Flamingo tonight, it feels as though it’s paid down. The club pulses as Diana Ross stations from speakers and other people drink daiquiris, flirt, talk, and party in their chairs — attaining personal highs they would created down this season. Most women are on a 10-day holiday. They would like to consume octopus, play volleyball, journey paddleboards, chase delight and pleasure, and get away from whatever might ruin this sacred-seeming excursion.

There are others right here this evening just who look pulled and cleared, like they have invested all the time squinting at their own devices in the past of this summertime’s sun, reading and watching the refugee situation unfold


a hundred or so kilometers out


. They may be haunted from the proximity, of the similar terrain in news reports and all around all of them. They deeply feel the dichotomies of


the sea as life giving on their behalf, existence getting for other people; the hills as spots to hike, or places to protect from Greek authorities; the sunlight they brown in, equivalent sunlight that pounds onto the tarmac of gasoline stations. These women can be seated in Flamingo, anesthetizing themselves with ouzo, watching their area, wondering exactly why nobody else generally seems to care.

You will find undeniably different attitudes on refugee situation on this subject island — within this extremely club. You can find those focused on a nearby economy, about Greece’s monetary issues, and in regards to the deepness of their own pockets. You can find women here whom tirelessly volunteer with refugee, teaching English or violin or standard refugee rights. You can find women that regularly give time, energy, and resources but feel disillusioned now, just like their initiatives did absolutely nothing to remedy the problem. There is condescension from those that’ve cast in the towel, which knocks the wind away from individuals who’re ready and raring doing whatever they can to ease the suffering of people in urgent need.

As a community, we be seemingly paralyzed by divergence in opinion and enormity associated with circumstance. We don’t know what accomplish, exactly who to trust, have no idea the best places to deliver our very own cash. We do not have tangible abilities to simply help and help. We know that giving crisis help, resting handbags, and sanitizer is one thing, yet not an answer after all.

Though it could be difficult recharge any person as of this bar with not caring, discover a noteworthy silence, increased — t


his year, more and more — by a desire to perhaps not ruin anyone else’s getaway.


The silence simply leaves all of us hanging out within beach club, the moonlight dancing regarding h2o, full of the eerie feeling we’re toasting the night time due to the fact Titanic sinks.

The Lesbian Feedback

Whenever celebration at Flamingo began to feel a little too disconnected from real life, something remarkable took place. The DJ died out of a Stevie question track and passed a microphone to some one from inside the group. “Hello Flamingo,” she mentioned, before namelessly presenting herself as a member of an area queer womxn’s collective, Ohana. These are typically a team of 10 who live on some area a kilometer through the beach.

“This afternoon, our very own collective got together and spoke,” she stated. “We spoke and spoke and chose there’s an elephant within the room in Skala Eressos. We all have been conscious of the unfolding refugee situation on this island, it’s for the straight back and/or front side of all of one’s brains. Yet, do not seem to be performing anything about this. At the best conversational or keyboard activists, we offset the shame with a like or a mention prior to getting to all of our ouzos, daiquiris, and lesbian romance.”

“All of these everything is great, excellent; the audience is a marginalized neighborhood in a patriarchal world, we are allowed to discover delight and enjoyment and belonging,” she proceeded. “But we ought to do that consciously. We could possibly be home, but lots of people with this really rock tend to be far removed from any semblance of residence.”

“So this evening,” she stated, “we will begin fundraising. We have linked with a local NGO called
Pikpa Lesvos Solidarity.


They are dealing with this area for eight many years, mostly with prone populations (and mostly ladies and children). Together with the money elevated this evening, two people in our very own collective will look for the needs — think hand sanitizer, powdered milk, lingerie, h2o — fill a Jeep, and decrease them off within organization’s HQ the next day afternoon.”

As the message received to an in depth, she questioned visitors to provide the cost of a try or a beverage — such a thing they could. Applause broke away, and a profound sense of relief surged through the audience. An improvised contribution’s container moved around, fast filling up with 20s, 20s, 20s, 50s, singles. After a swift half-an-hour whip, €620 spilled from container. Community activation demonstrably actually tough. The lesbians here simply needed somewhere to put their unique sources, a path in order to make positive social modification.

Once the final couple of tracks played at Flamingo, the stars punctuated lots of tiers from the sky, while the Ohana member got concise to thank everybody abundantly. She ended up being truly gob-smacked by overflowing container. “many thanks, thank you so much, efcharisto,” she said. “We were wanting 100 euro, possibly two, but this really is unbelievable!”

She paused for a while before she said, “we’re the lesbians for the island of Lesvos; this is exactly seriously the responsibility as well.” It is like lesbians all around the world can stand in solidarity making use of lesbians throughout the island of Lesbos. This ongoing humanitarian situation is of our own duty.

To donate to Pikpa visit


https://www.lesvossolidarity.org/en/support-us.



Keep tuned in for more updates throughout the scenario in Lesbos.