Martha Tadesse
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marthinolly.bsky.social
Martha Tadesse
@marthinolly.bsky.social
500 followers 100 following 120 posts
Humanitarian photographer | Feminism ጃስ | 🏳️‍🌈 Current project 📸: Queer African stories
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I’ve been documenting the lives of queer Ethiopians & Eritreans, but finding a safe space to share these stories has been exhausting. I always have to turn replies off on IG, even though I’d love to engage more. And never even bothered to share on X. #BlueSky community, buckle up ✨
Discounted registration is not compensation. If an organization truly value art as advocacy, healing, and change, they need to value the artists behind it with fair pay. Isn’t
compensation equity in practice? How do you ask for art projects and treat artists as customers?
🎨 Attention artists and collectives from around the world! Do you want your work showcased on the global stage at #WD2026 in Narrm (Melbourne), Australia? At the world’s largest gathering for gender equality, art will take center stage as a force for advocacy and change. 🗓️ Applications are open 👇
I've been engaged in a research project for over a year with an incredible research partner I'm deeply grateful for. Our work focuses on online violence against queer individuals in Ethiopia. Our reflection has finally been published:

genderit.org/index.php/fe...
genderit.org
Picked my favorites 💐
✨ Tulips ✨ Dalton Farms, NJ
Reposted by Martha Tadesse
Thanks to my friend Harriet for pointing out that the women went to Christ's tomb and saw he was not there, the angels showed up to describe what happened, & the women then told the apostles, who dismissed them. A Biblical account of women not being believed.
Please HALF Marathon 🥲
I can’t believe I am actually running my first marathon this Sunday 🎧🏃🏾‍♀️✨
Why queer archive?

Because queer stories shall start with queerness not queerphobia.
All this hate crime is deeply embedded in the narrative of keeping Ethiopia safe and holy, driven by fear based rhetoric that motivates people to partake in this hate. (Years of misinformation and disinformation + propaganda that are still available in different social media platforms) /End
August 2023

For months, an organized campaign targeting queer communities unfolded on TikTok, involving doxing (those assumed to be gay), threats, mob justice calls, and misinformation, with participation from government officials, religious leaders, influencers, and users.
March 2022

<<ስለ ኢትዮጵያ ዝም አንልም: ትውልድን ከግብረ ሰዶም እንታደግ>> org (We will not be silent about Ethiopia. Let us save generations from Gibre Sodom) hosted an event to raise awareness about homosexuality and how Eth can prevent its spread.

youtu.be/SEXdSH6qAJA?...
ስለ ኢትዮጵያ ዝም አንልም
YouTube video by ስለ ኢትዮጵያ ዝም አንልም (Sile Ethiopia Zim Anilim)
youtu.be
July 2015

Former President Barack Obama’s visit sparked a widespread rumor that his visit aimed to discuss decriminalization of homosexuality. Comments on Dr Tedros Adhanom’s post speak volume about that time.
June 2012

Conference entitled “Homosexuality and its Associated Social Disastrous Consequences” was held at the AU. Featured a research finding that “homosexuality is a result of inappropriate upbringing and linked it to STDs, HIV, and severe psychological disorders.”

76crimes.com/2012/06/15/e...
Ethiopia balks at Western pressure for LGBT rights
Add Ethiopia to the list of places that are crying foul at Western governments' decision to consider a developing country's anti-homosexuality laws before
76crimes.com
December 2011

During the 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) held in Addis Ababa, messages of protest spread, claiming that the conference’s objective was to promote homosexuality & pressure the Eth govt to pass supportive legislation.

globalvoices.org/2011/12/01/e...
Key dates on the evolution of anti homosexuality advocacy and online violence against LGBTQIA+ communities in Ethiopia: 1/
Reposted by Martha Tadesse
Fuck this fucking fascist fuckery.
A portrait of queer Ethiopian American friends who found this big friendship while in college.
In the face of relentless disinformation and the shattering weight of systemic denial, queer Africans continue to create safe spaces for themselves. Every quiet search for connection and every hidden gathering is an act of defiance — a refusal to be erased.
Reposted by Martha Tadesse
"Now or never" - @thecontinent.org.

Thread: While Europe was getting scolded at its own Munich Security Conference, African leaders were in Ethiopia for the annual African Union summit. As @simonallison.bsky.social explained, it was a critical summit, with Africa facing a new Trump led world order.
🤩 Ethiopian and Eritrean queer stories to the streets. To be seen. To be heard. A song of resistance ✨

Billboard from Exposure Photography Festival. (📸 Mitra Samavaki)

Calgary, Alberta
My photography project Wonderfully Made, which highlights the Ethiopian and Eritrean queer community in the US, is featured in this year’s Exposure Photography Festival and opened last night ✨

If you are in Calgary don’t miss it - at Contemporary Calgary.