WHAT IS IN OUR NAME LubunTO?

“Lubunya” is a word born from Turkey’s queer and trans communities a self-made term that is unique to the urban geographies of Turkey, Northern Kurdistan and other parts of Anatolia. For decades, it was used as a slur against trans women sex workers in Istanbul. Our community reclaimed the term.

“Lubunca” is a coded slang often used in the 1980s by trans sex workers in Istanbul to speak safely around police and clients. Over time, lubunya became more than a label; it became a feeling of belonging. To say “we are lubunyas” is to say “we are queer.”

When we founded LubunTO, we chose this name because it holds that same spirit. The “TO” stands for Toronto, the city where many LGBTQ+ immigrants from Turkey have rebuilt their lives. Bringing “lubunya” here meant carrying a piece of our shared language and resilience across borders and ethnicities as a bridge between where we came from and where we are now.

Lubunca itself blends Turkish grammar with words from Romani, Greek, Armenian, Arabic, and French. It’s a living language shaped by secrecy, humor, and survival. Words like madi (shade), güllüm (laughter or gossip), çark (cruising), and koli (a hookup or partner) are still used by queer and trans communities to connect, tease, and affirm each other.

Today, speaking Lubunca in Toronto—at a picnic, during Pride, or over tea—keeps that cultural heartbeat alive. It reminds us that queer migration is not just movement between places, but between languages of care. LubunTO carries that meaning forward: a community built from homegrown words of solidarity, now spoken in a new home.