The Romani Cultural and Arts Company 21st profile will be of Dezso Mate
Dezso Mate, currently is the Consultant of the Open Society Foundations Community Youth Fellowship, which is focusing on the Roma LGBTQIA people intersectional challenges in public healthcare settings. The program is supported by the Youth Exchange and the Public Health Program, with the aim to give a voice to voiceless people.
He is a Doctoral researcher at the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest (ELTE) at Faculty of Social Science – Sociology Interdisciplinary Program (PhD). He finished his education at University of Pécs- Faculty of Art, – in Romology- Movie culture and in Media Studies on the Master Program. Dezso also gained further study experiences in the Netherlands (Eindhoven) at the Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven- Social Studies (MA Erasmus program).
He has had experience since 2013 at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences – Center of Social Sciences – Institute for Minority Studies as a Junior Research Fellow. Dezso’s research interests focus on the: Intersection between Roma and LGBTQ Community; Generational change of the Roma graduates, the impact of social resilience; Segregation, visibility and the ‘labelling’ of Roma children in education.
Between 2011-2013 he worked at the Equal Treatment Authority as an expert on discrimination cases. Before 2011, Dezso taught in several schools in disadvantaged areas where he supported Romani children.
In spite of all this work, only few people know of Dezso’s family background. Dezso’s mother died when he was aged 6. Then his father kidnapped him, and got arrested. Dezso was homeless for years. He started his education at the age of 9. Now, he lives in a happy relationship with his same –sex husband. Dezso is proud of his intersectional identity as a Romani gay person.
The First Sparks of Romani LGBTQ
Please read below his main articles:
https://mta.academia.edu/DezsoMate
The First Sparks of Romani LGBTQ
https://www.academia.edu/34781289/The_First_Sparks_of_Romani_LGBTQ
Faced with Multiple ‘Values’ – From the Perspective of the Roma LGBTQ Community
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