In this second episode from our visit to Battambang (Cambodia) we talk with B. Pov, the mother of SafeSpaceBTB community (see #38 for more information on the community organization) and today it is all about language!

B. Pov talks to us about a specific queer language which is an adaptation of the Khmer language spoken in Cambodia. She explains to us the origins of the language as well as the importance and further development of it during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime (1975 - 1979). Towards the end of the conversation we speak about her own story, her role as a trans elder in Battambang and the hopes she has for the LGBTQIA+* community in Cambodia at large.

If you want to learn more about the lessons on queer survival during the Khmer Rouge regime check this blogpost on our website.

This podcast is partially funded by Heinrich Böll Stiftung Phnom Penh, Cambodia & Heinrich Böll Stiftung New Delhi, India in collaboration with SafeSpaceBTB

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feel free to reach out if you have any feedback, questions, suggestions for future topics/guests via Instagram or e-mail: belissima@riseup.net

I am your host Béla Belissima, non-binary soul from Berlin on the journey to dismantle our cis-heteronormative world and look beyond all binaries. Re-writing our narratives and telling our own stories. Thanks for being here