Joci Márton
Joci Márton is 36 years old, and he is a Roma activist. He was growing up in a poor mining town in an eastern-north part of Hungary. Joci is giving us his point of view as a Roma gay person, but he is not speaking for the rest of the community.
Coming out for Joci was a long way, with a lot of steps and thoughts. He first came out to his close friends which gave him the courage to talk about it more. When Joci was 22 years old he told his parents about his sexuality but they already knew he was gay, but they never talked about it. He also knew his family might in the worst case be upset or crying, but they would never excommunicate him. Joci also explained that if the mainstream media would talk about LGBTQ+ people more often or in a better way, people wouldn’t be that homophobic and it would be easier for other people to talk about their sexuality.
Joci is active on social media, talking about Roma issues and LGBT problems. He is open about it, and he is not afraid to tell what he thinks. Doesn’t matter if it’s against the right-sided Hungarian politicians which are extremely homophobic and racist, but also against any phobia that is connected to Roma or LGBTQ+ people.
Coming out for Joci was a long way, with a lot of steps and thoughts. He first came out to his close friends which gave him the courage to talk about it more. When Joci was 22 years old he told his parents about his sexuality but they already knew he was gay, but they never talked about it. He also knew his family might in the worst case be upset or crying, but they would never excommunicate him. Joci also explained that if the mainstream media would talk about LGBTQ+ people more often or in a better way, people wouldn’t be that homophobic and it would be easier for other people to talk about their sexuality.
Joci is active on social media, talking about Roma issues and LGBT problems. He is open about it, and he is not afraid to tell what he thinks. Doesn’t matter if it’s against the right-sided Hungarian politicians which are extremely homophobic and racist, but also against any phobia that is connected to Roma or LGBTQ+ people.
He is a founding member of “Ame Panzh”, an informal Roma group that broadcasts content on social media to give the audience members more visibility of Roma communities and to bring Roma and LGBTQ+ people closer together. They are Transfeminist, Antifascist and Antipatriarchal. - https://baxtale.tv
One of the other projects that Joci started is “Owning the game”. This Roma LGBTQ+ community exhibition focuses on visual narrative change, intending to gain material from the members of the intersection in which the characters are beautiful, strong and with this dignified portrayal can help Roma LGBTQ+ people who have not participated in this project.
Joci describes Roma coming out as something individual. When people are going to read about Roma coming out they cannot expect the same story from everyone. Joci would like to add that if someone from the majority society decided to come out, it would be easier for them. It is the first thing that people are discriminated against - compared to Roma people who are already discriminated against for their ethnicity.