‘I’ve been looking for a community in Budapest I would gladly belong to for years now. Women and girls my age or at least in a similar phase of life as me – living independent, adult lives, interested in LGBTQ+ topics at least on the level of their own existence, who have plans and are ready to work for them. A company to attend all sorts of events with, party with, or meet up for a Friday night beer. At last I decided I shouldn’t be searching for this community, but help build it. That’s where the idea of qLit came from.’ – this is what I wrote in the first ever article of qLit.
qLit, the Hungarian lesbian* magazine (and now ‘program organising agency’) had its debut exactly two years ago. Two of us came up with it, three of us realised it and now at least 25 of us are running it, and you are turning up in hundreds to our programs and read us week to week. Where did we start, where are we know and where are we headed?
The idea was to create an online space first, then with the help of that, an online community. When that’s done, we turn that online thing offline. Not a printed magazine, but an offline, real life, face-to-face community.
We were thinking about something that would reach those who so far haven’t been an active part of lesbian life, didn’t attend any events, film screenings or parties. Something that would draw in those not interested in activism or even specifically lesbian topics, but are open to them, they just need for a community to exist that they’d want to belong to.
On the 1st of June, 2017, the magazine launched, and by the careful and hard work of a whole group of editors and writers it would put out several articles per week and attract more and more readers and drum up more interest.
April 2018
The Spring of 2018 rolled around, when, together with the Atlasz Sport Association we launched our first program, the weekly table tennis, held on Fridays. This is still ongoing, moreover, now instead of one you can play for two hours at 6 tables and we offer coaching on Mondays. Oh, and every season we hold a table tennis cup, where you can match your skills with others – next time on the 5th of July!
June 2018
During Pride Month we got started on two other programs. The flash date was a huge success, bigger than anticipated. More than 80 of you signed up for the first occasion, which had to split in two parts because of this. As the originator of the idea and as an organiser it was fantastic to see so many of us show up at such an event. Since then we held two flash dates, and the next one is coming on the 22nd of June!
July 2018
Besides the flash date the Queer Situations?! improvisation theatre show – dreamed up with the help of Ági Bokor (Impróka) – also had its debut during Pride, and since has grown into a once-a-season, full-house series. Next time you can see it at the theatre of the Momentán company on the 25th of June. Till then, check out our reviews of the previous shows!
September 2018
By then we were on a roll, there was no stopping. Building on Ágota’s past as a quizmaster, the qLit trivia nights were launched. One thing is certain, we hold a trivia night every month, and every month some people get stuck on the waiting list, so great is the enthusiasm.
We are looking forward to host all who are interested at our next event, in teams or solo, on the 21st of June, at Jelen!
March 2019
We couldn’t sit still for long, so we started brainstorming with Ági Bokor of the ‘impróka’ fame, which resulted in a biweekly, open Sunday impro workshop. We formed an excellent little team over the past occasions, but we always have newcomers too. We’re waiting for you too at the 23rd of June and the 7th of July.
Where are we headed?
Forward! Let there be even more programs, let there be more places we gladly frequent, let us share a community, get to know each other, enjoy ourselves, enjoy life! (And if we have a problem, we’ll know who to turn to, who to trust.)
If you have any ideas what sort of events we should organise, and if you’re willing to help (!), don’t hesitate to contact us at qlit@qlit.hu .
