Zaʾfaraan Collective was founded in 2016 by two queer migrants from Yemen and Iran. The collective, a community- and space-building initiative, works to define a queer/trans MENA/SWANA (Middle East and North Africa/South West Asia and North Africa) narrative that centers the physical and emotional experience of migration. This project seemed necessary because none of the existing queer SWANA spaces were centered around migration, an issue that impacts the life of most queers because they are often subject to social and institutional violence and, consequently, chosen or forced exile. Since its inception Zaʾfaraan has led community- and concept-building workshops at multiple LGBTQ conferences, including Creating Change, the national US-based LGBTQ conference, and has built a national base of queer/trans SWANA activists and artists. In 2019 Zaʾfaraan limited its work to its online zine, of which the fourth issue was released in the winter of that year.
Zaʾfaraan zine is an online...
