Got a spare mansion laying around? Samtökin ’78, the queer organization of Iceland, are looking for a new building.
One of the biggest pressing issues facing the new chairperson is Samtökin’s 78 home. Over the past eight years or so since the organization moved into Suðurgata, they’ve been quickly running out of space. Álfur Birkir, the new chair of Samtökin ’78, says they’re currently in the market for a new house.
“We’re looking for a new building. Of course, we could never plunge ourselves into debt either. So it needs to be a good deal and today’s housing market is not really perfect for that (he laughs as house prices simultaneously spike). If someone out there has a building they want to sell us or if they have space where we could be part of a bigger building I think that’d be great. But the building we have has been too small for a long time.”
“Kind of two floors would be best, to have the open public-facing part on the ground floor and then a large area for counseling rooms and stuff that could be more private.”
There’s also a balance the organization needs to have in terms of its public and private sides. Samtökin is a community organization that needs space for events and gatherings. It needs to be public and noticeable so that society knows we’re here and fighting for our rights. Yet it also needs a bit of privacy. Álfur clarifies “not everyone who comes to Samtökin is out or wants to be seen. We want both visibility and privacy. Kind of two floors would be best, to have the open public-facing part on the ground floor and then a large area for counseling rooms and stuff that could be more private. There are a lot of things to consider. It’s not an easy endeavor.”
The counseling room is at the heart of the space’s current problems. The organization has outgrown Suðurgata by far and is in need of more rooms to provide one of their most valuable services: psychological assistance, medical assistance, and legal assistance. “We only have one room for this consultation and advice center. It’s almost always completely booked. We get on average 4 appointments per day excluding weekends. Just for that one room in a shared space. It’s a difficult thing to manage,” says Álfur. Adding, “we also used to get a hundred kids or more in the youth center that used to be there. We had to move that because you can’t fit that many people in there, overflowing out onto the street. We’re growing on all sides and I think it’s time our lovely home did too.”
When it comes to the organization’s dream home, Álfur isn’t sure where it will be yet. “How we’re going to find all that, I’m not sure. I mean, I’d love for that to be my legacy. Finding a mansion for no money at all. We’re keeping our eyes and ears open, but like I said we’re picky as well. We need the right location, handicap accessibility. For instance, on Laugavegur (the organization’s former address), we were kind of in the back and it was difficult to get to in a wheelchair and we were kind of hidden,” he notes.
Read the full length interview with the new chair of Samtökin ’78 here.