This LVW, we’ve partnered with ILGA World to find out more about rainbow families around the globe
Happy Lesbian Visibility Week 2025. This year our theme is all about family. We’ve partnered up with ILGA World, a worldwide federation of more than 1,900 organisations from over 160 countries and territories campaigning for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex human rights to find out what family means to activists all around the world.
This is what family looks like to Henrie, Founder and Executive Director of AfroRainbowAustria (ARA). ARA is the first organization in Austria founded by and for LGBTQIA Africans, responding to the urgent need for a collective space where the distinct challenges faced by queer Africans are not only acknowledged but actively addressed.
What does family mean to you?
Family for me is not just defined by biology, but by intention, care, and chosen bonds. As a Nigerian lesbian woman, I have had to reimage and reinterpret the concept of family, moving beyond traditional frameworks while still maintaining the love, patience, and tenderness experienced from my parents. In my experience, my family is a political space as much as it is a personal one. It’s where I get to teach my kids love that is not conditional and where I nurture resilience in the face of erasure.
Tell us about a typical day in your family life:
It totally depends on whether it’s a weekday or a weekend. I’ll share an average Saturday in my family life with you.
Our day starts with breakfast, after a brief negotiation about what everyone feels like having and what is available in the house. During breakfast, we talk about everything and laugh about the silliest things. After breakfast, everyone has their routine chores; my two kids head to the bedroom to make their beds, after which the older one sorts and prepares the laundry for the washing machine and the younger one waters all the plants in the house. Afternoons are for relaxing, playing card games, hair weaving and braiding for the upcoming week, nail cutting, painting, receiving visitors, spending quality time doing whatever we feel like doing, and generally enjoying each other’s company. Our day ends with us all huddled on the couch for movie night. I generally split my time between work, study, advocacy, and parenting.
How have things changed for LGBTQIA+ families over your lifetime?
Growing up in Nigeria, queerness was something wrapped up in a lot of shame and whispered about, if acknowledged at all. Family and queerness were positioned as opposites, and you couldn’t have both. Moving to Austria offered some freedom but brought its own challenges. Visibility here can lead to empowerment, but it can also lead to surveillance, tokenization, or vulnerability to backlash. Over time, I’ve seen more queer families demanding recognition and changing narratives. Media representation and policy changes around parenting rights are significant but don’t always reflect the experiences of queer migrants, especially those of African descent. Change is happening, but the question is; Is that change accessible to EVERYONE?
What are your hopes for the future for LGBTQIA+ families?
I hope for a world where LGBTQIA+ families, especially those of us at the intersection race migration and class, don’t have to keep explaining who we are or justifying our existence in courtrooms, public opinion or policies, but be celebrated on our own terms.
DIVA magazine celebrates 31 years in print in 2025. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
