ABOUT MIRAY

​I am Miray, 23 years old. I am a trans woman from Azerbaijan. I have been involved in several LGBTQ+ initiatives. I have been engaged in activism for the benefit of my community. I have previously been interviewed by several popular social media outlets in Azerbaijan. In these interviews, I talked about being a trans woman in Azerbaijan and the challenges it brings. My interviews have aroused interest in people. Also, people from the community have started to like me and trust me.

I am also a film director. I previously received a bachelor's degree in cinema in Azerbaijan. In 2022, I completed my 23-minute feature film “Sun on My Body”. My film was presented twice. These presentations were both covered in the media and reached a large number of people. This film was almost the first feature film LGBTQ+ in Azerbaijan. Later, I also made 2 short films. One of them was about an Azerbaijani trans woman. The other was about our murdered gay activist friend. I also write articles. In my articles, I try to show my experiences and the stories and difficulties of my community. In addition, I have previously attended several trainings on sexual health. In these trainings, I tried to inform people from my community about how to take care of their sexual health.

​Speaking about myself, apart from the work I do, I am someone who has many dreams for the future. Based on the experiences I have gained over the years, I have decided that I want to become a social worker. I want to support people, especially my community. For this, I want to study in this field again in the future. I also enjoy teaching people something. That is why I want to continue my
trainings.

What do I love? Cats have a divine meaning for me. In Azerbaijan, you can see many cats on the street. That's why I have always been in contact with many cats throughout my life. I also adopted 2  cats from the street. Currently, my friend is taking care of them. I also love elephants, they havevery unique and beautiful personalities.

I like listening to different music depending on my mood. Sometimes I try to write music myself. I dream of releasing a small music album in the future. I also like watching movies, reading novels, and skating.

​I lived in a small city in Azerbaijan for the first 17 years of my life. It was almost too quiet. Then I started living in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. I have been living in Baku for more than 5 years.
When I first came to Kosice, the quietness of the city seemed strange to me. There were not many people, cars, and noise like in Baku. After the first month, this quietness began to give me great pleasure. Since I grew up in a small city, I actually like small places more. Even the quietness of Kosice began to have a good effect on my health. I have severe migraines. When I lived in Baku, I suffered from migraines every day. Living a quiet life in Kosice, the noiselessness of the city had a
very good effect on me physically. The city is actually not very small. I can find everything I need here. The interesting thing is that I was afraid that I might suffer financially during my volunteering period. But it didn’t happen at all. Kosice is a very cheap city for me. And I can easily meet all my needs with my monthly volunteer income.

Life in Košice

​We don't live our lives in Azerbaijan with much of a daily schedule. Seeing how people live in Kosice in a planned way has changed my views on this subject in a positive way. For years, I had a bad habit of going to bed very late at night. But here I learned to go to bed early again and start the day early. This has had a very positive effect on both my physical and mental health. 

When I first came to Kosice, I was afraid of being alone, but both the Sapling team and the other people I met showed me that this fear was not real. I began to develop very friendly relationships with many of the people from the Saplinq team. They taught me everything I needed and didn't know. Sometimes I had trouble finding things in the city and getting used to new things, but their support helped me in all of this. Our frequent community meetings helped me meet new people and socialize.

The pride parade we held in August was my first. It was great to be a part of the organizing team and see the joy of the people who participated. In addition, it is very enjoyable to start learning Slovak, which is part of a large language family. At first, it seemed very difficult to me, but the more I started learning this language, the more I enjoyed it. I found places in the city where I could spend time safely. Cafes, restaurants, etc. I can say with confidence that Slovaks are much less transphobic than Azerbaijanis. During my time here, I never felt in danger, I did not experience any  dangerous situation. One of the things I love most about Kosice is the diversity, including shopping. You can easily find several versions of the product you want, in several qualities and prices.

Kosice holds a very special meaning in my life now. And in the future, I will always remember this city, the people I met here, and most importantly, my Sapling family, with fond memories.