Therοs is an Athens and Eressos based centre, founded to fulfill the need of trans* and lesbian* research, writing, publishing, art, music, film and photography. It is strongly grounded in the local trans and lesbian* communities and strives to create coalitions across and against borders.
Our core principles are reflected in our name:
- One of the first recorded historical refusals, found in greek mythology in the story of the nymph Thero. She is known as the nymph who said “NO” and as a punishment, her name ended up meaning “feral” or “beastly”. We, like Thero, are the feral transfeminist monsters here to claim our stories back.
- Theros also means the warm season of the year: we live in warm political and social times and global warming is all around us. We are the products of this warmth. Our theories are sweaty and our epistemologies vulnerable. We want to keep each other warm in the midst of anti-gender and anti-trans* moral panics. We are also committed to an eco-transfeminist perspective and ways of living.
- Eros is the mischievous god of love, lighting the flame of love in the hearts of people: we are here to light the flame of radical and revolutionary love. This speaks to our soft power as a way of resisting the violences of heteropatriarchy. We are not heroic or brave, we do not want statuses and do not celebrate national days of pride. We come with love to smash borders, fascism, coloniality, and the reproduction of oppressive power relations.
- Eros also means the sum of life-preserving instincts that are manifested as impulses to gratify basic needs, as sublimated impulses, and as impulses to protect and preserve the body and mind. Our research is instinctual, our poetry is not a luxury, and we will continue to protect and preserve our communities.
- Finally, theros also means harvesting, relating to the warm, fruitful conditions: we are here to harvest the fruits of our intergenerational efforts and learn from one another. We are here to create a trans* and lesbian* community archive and take our theories to the streets.
We are the feral monsters and we come in love and with love.
Join us?