I’m writing this on my phone as I curl up on a friend’s armchair in Brussels. I’m under a warm blanket and it’s very comforting considering it’s been summer since April in Malta and it’s not really been possible to touch a blanket at all.
Since my last (and first) newsletter I’ve had the opportunity to participate and witness some very special political moments, like those in Ankara. It’s been difficult though to take a moment to breath and reflect, and therefore understand what I wanted to write to you about.
In Ankara, together with other international politicians, I passed through three police checkpoints to gain access to the Congress of the Yeşil Sol Parti – Green Left Party. As I had written on the Times of Malta in May, the Yeşil Sol Parti had been acting as the shelter through which the HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) could field candidates for the elections.
On October 15th this month they confirmed that the legally recognised party – Yeşil Sol – would become HEDEP (Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party) – a rebrand that follows closely on the path of HDP and its predecessors. This is necessary because the HDP is facing court cases, including the Kobani case and a closure case.
A cynic would say that the YSP only ever existed to form a backup legal structure that the HDP could take over should they need it. A romantic would consider the act of essentially transferring the legal entity of YSP to HDP as extremely noble.
I suspect that the reality lies somewhere in the middle of these two options. And I will continue to follow the emerging structures to understand what comes next in these transitions.
I use the word transition deliberately. I think there’s a beauty in the way many trans people, including myself, embrace uncertainties and play with boundaries.
I believe that these skills are essential to do politics in 2023. We are trained to seek out new opportunities, to bend structures, to recognise new potentials. And it is necessary to apply those to our politics as we seek coalitions, negotiate boundaries, and rebrand movements. At the very least, we are experienced at rebranding.
Over the next days and weeks I will refocus on politics in Malta again. I’ll be testifying against Ivan Grech Mintoff and the fundamentalism of the right wing ABBA Party on the 8th November in Valletta. I will need to be fully present as Deputy Chairperson of the Maltese Greens and as a trans person and activist.
For trans and gender diverse art, for children’s safe access to theatre, against repeated patterns of hate. We must not let them win.
This article was first sent as a newsletter on 24th October 2023, to subscribe go to: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/mina-jacks-newsletter
MJ Tolu 
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