Fatteh is the first LGBTQ+ magazine of its kind in English and Amharic, the working language of Ethiopia. We strive to illuminate the lives of the millions of ‘invisible’ LGBTQ+ people in Ethiopia and the global Habesha diaspora by covering issues that matter to them. From serious news to hot topics, we give readers an opportunity to see themselves fully reflected, and authentically represented, something that’s unimaginable in the mainstream Ethiopian media. We also provide an outlet for writers to express themselves freely and unapologetically in a language that is intimately familiar, but has all too often obscured a significant aspect of their identity. The people who make up this unique community deserve to be the authors and central characters of their own narrative — and now they can be.
fatteh / fɑːˈteɪ /
noun or adjective, Amharic language
1. a colloquial term describing a quality of extra-ness, boldness, flamboyance
2. a playful term used by some LGBTQ+ Ethiopians to indicate that a person possesses this quality, sometimes used as code to imply that their sexual orientation or gender identity is noticeable
3. a magazine founded in 2025 which fully embraces this quality in order to serve the Ethiopian/Habesha LGBTQ+ community
– “Wow, you were showing a lot of fatteh at that event last week.”
– “Hey, turn down your fatteh here because it’s dangerous for us.”
Fatteh’s mission is to inform, inspire and empower a community that is still finding its voice despite ongoing efforts to silence it. We believe that storytelling and journalism can be powerful tools for advocacy: raising awareness, challenging norms, increasing visibility, fostering acceptance, provoking dialogue, attracting allies and building solidarity — all with a view to promote and uphold the human rights of all LGBTQ+ Ethiopians and Habesha diasporans. This community is our focus, but we also hope that stories about and for the community can help open the minds and win the hearts of mainstream audiences in the Horn of Africa region.
While recognising the magnitude of opposition we face in the region, our hope is that growing numbers of ordinary people come to see Fatteh as a gateway to the vibrant LGBTQ+ community living in their midst. It’s about demystifying and animating a shrouded community to humanise the individuals who embody it. Eventually, we hope that some who stumble across the magazine will dare to use it as a resource to help counter harmful narratives about sexual and gender minorities and that others feel inspired to show their support for the community in day-to-day life. For that, we believe, is the first step toward achieving security, dignity and equality, and the same long and winding path that leads us to a more inclusive society.
At Fatteh, we aim to stimulate and educate. We share stories of hope, love, resilience and triumph without sugarcoating the struggles, danger, persecution and criminalisation that the Ethiopian/Habesha LGBTQ+ community continues to face.
We know that the use of blurred portraits and aliases will feature in our content for longer than we would like but prioritising the safety of our contributors and subjects is paramount. Ultimately, our goal is to ignite much-needed change in society but, if Fatteh can offer community members a healthy distraction in the meantime or simply inspire one discouraged person to persevere another day, then that will be a sign of success. Fatteh’s tone may be celebratory — sometimes even entertaining — but we don’t believe it’s possible to uplift our audience without honesty. So, we try to do just that: explore the richness and complexity of the Ethiopian/Habesha LGBTQ+ journey while showcasing the full spectrum of experiences in this blossoming community, from the ordinary to the extraordinary and everything in between.
Fatteh has broader ambitions too. To better serve this diverse community and help strengthen its connections with neighbouring communities, we hope to roll out local editions and translations of the magazine in other Ethiopian and African languages. After all, no country exists in a vacuum. Monitoring LGBTQ+ movements across the continent offers vital context while revealing shared challenges and valuable opportunities for learning and synergies. It also nurtures a sense of camaraderie as communities across borders seek justice in parallel, bound by a shared purpose, through both successes and setbacks. This is why we already chronicle pan-African news, though we want to do even more to establish ourselves as a regional hub.
Helping LGBTQ+ people with varied perspectives and multi-faceted personalities connect with each other — within the country, across the continent and on the other side of the planet — is our next objective. We aspire to help unite these sometimes-fragmented communities and elevate their unique intersectional cultures in meaningful ways, but to do so while collaborating with the global LGBTQ+ community and fully embracing the wider world.
Let’s be outspoken changemakers, yes. But let’s be thoughtful and constructive along the way. Let’s be canny, candid and, above all else, let’s be persuasive by being creative. Let’s harness the soft power of storytelling for this important cause.
Join Fatteh.