Support Deniz Ateşyan's Rent and Education

Hey there,

This campaign is for Deniz Ateşyan; here is what he has to say! I'm reaching out to the community because I'm in a tough spot and could really use your support. Being an immigrant and the first generation in my family to go to college, getting into university was a monumental achievement for me. After years of hard work, I'm currently a first-year philosophy student at METU Ankara, Turkey's top-tier university, and it's been a dream come true.

Beyond academics, I'm deeply passionate about human rights. I've been, as a gay person, an activist in the LGBTQ+ movement in Turkey, a movement that has been under what could be described as the harshest attacks in the modern history of the republic. I've been an active part of various protests and student activities in and outside the campus, my biggest achievement would be being part of organising my school's 11th Pride Marche which has been facing brutal police violence. However, my activism has come at a cost.

I've faced relentless online harassment campaigns and threats, some of it was with death, and the situation escalated after Turkey’s last presidential election when a group of individuals harassed me on campus. Here I find it important to tell you that the government directed rector has punished me instead of the harassers and got me suspended from school for one month for recording the moment i was harassed (a decision was stopped by the court weeks after). The same group even outed me to my family, which resulted in them disowning me and cutting off all support and communication, even with my sisters and brothers. This abandonment shocked me and hit me hard, affecting my mental health and causing my grades to suffer during my first semester. As a result of not being able to function, I had to quit my job, which I had relied on financially for the past two years.

I started therapy to cope, but I had to stop due to financial reasons, as queer-friendly therapy is rare and expensive in Turkey. Even affording antidepressants is becoming impossible since, what i recently got to know, my father cancelled my health insurance.

Despite all this, I'm determined to finish my studies and focus on my mental healing and continue my activism so no queer kid suffers and goes through what I did, and so I continue my life with my chosen family and achieve my dreams. But I can't do it alone. I need your help to overcome these obstacles and keep pursuing my dreams.

Your donations will cover essential expenses like medication, rent, and educational fees. Every little bit helps me stay on track with my studies and my journey to recovery.

If you can, please share my story and this campaign with your friends and family. I need this to live a life I was told I don’t deserve.

Thank you so much for your kindness and support during this challenging time.

I know that our solidarity will save me,

Deniz Ateşyan.