History of Gay and Lesbian Movement in Slovenia

1976

Decriminalisation of consensual homosexual acts in Slovenia


1984

April 24-29: MAGNUS Festival (European and American gay films, exhibition of gay publishing over the world, lectures about gay culture: F. Arnal, A. Avanzo and G. Hockquenghem, discussions about gay culture and organisations, video “Framed Youth” with author’s presentation from London, social contacts) was held in CD (Cankarjev Dom, Slovenian Cultural and Congress Centre), ŠKUC Gallery, CIDM (Centre for Developing Leisure Activities for Young People), Faculty of Philosophy.

April 24: VIKS (No. 2): Homosexuality and Culture (our own publication about cultural and social problems of homosexuality)

June ’84 – May ’85: MAGNUS Gay Club every Saturday night in K4 (Disco where Gay Disco hosted) Jeans and Leather Party and promotion of Tom of Finland video

December 8: Constitution of MAGNUS section at ŠKUC (Students Cultural Center) in Ljubljana (members were mostly gays and partly lesbians); section had had powerful support from alternative scene.


1985

February 2: AIDS (our own informative publication)

February 20: Meeting with 28. GIUGNO Club from Bologna, Italy (working session with collaborators and public presentation of the club)

March 30: GAYZINE 1 (publication with information and literature)

May 13-25: MAGNUS 1985 (European gay films, New Wave women’s films, photo exhibition Paris-Ljubljana, video program from Zagreb, Ljubljana and Vienna, meeting with Austrian organisation Homosexuelle Initiative Wien, Lilit Evening)


1986

January 11: COPI (exhibition of caricatures of French painter)

January 18: GAI PIED (presentation of Paris magazine)

June 9-14: MAGNUS 1986 (Derek Jarman films, Krista Beinstein exhibition, DISTANZ performance, AIDS information, meeting with COC organisation from Amsterdam)

August: MAGNUS MANIFEST for the Festival of New Social Movements demands:

  1. immediate abolition of Criminal Law Articles 110/3 in Serbia, 93/2 in Bosnia and Hercegovina, 101/2 in Macedonia and 81/3 in Kosovo;
  2. to change article about discrimination in Slovene Constitution and add prohibition of discrimination on base of sexual orientation;
  3. to enter subjects about homosexuality in school programs not as a pathological sexual experience, but as free life choice which is equal to but different from heterosexual;
  4. the government of Yugoslavia to protest at governments of those countries which discriminate, prosecute and liquidate homosexual minority.

December 15-18: AIDS (round table, films “Buddies” and “No Sad Song”, theater piece “That’s the Way It Is”)


1987

April 16: In March it comes into wider public that MAGNUS Festival shall start on May 25. The festival was renamed to congress; Council for social security and health at SZDL and Ljubljana inspection office decide “the congress should be banned”. General meeting of Škuc-Forum takes place and among other things decide to propose to the consitutional committee to include “sexual orientation” in the constitution’s non-discrimination clause.

May 25: Mobilisation Day against AIDS (exhibition of anti-AIDS materials in ŠKUC Gallery)

July, August: AIDS Banner (distributed all over Slovenia with help of ZSMS)

October: Special issue of the article “Let’s Love Women” in Mladina magazine

October: Constitution of LL-Lesbian Group at feminist section Lilit (all together part of ŠKUC)

November: Women’s disco night at “Club of Maribor’s Students” (Maribor is a town in northeast of Slovenia)


1988

January: LL was founded as independent section at ŠKUC.

February 6: Newspaper Delo publishes open letter of sections Magnus and LL to Jože Smole (SZDL), who doesn’t reply.

March: LL-Literature Evening of Slovenian lesbian poetry was held in ŠKUC Gallery.

March: LESBOZINE 1 – First lesbian publication in Slovenia (information, translations, literature)

March: Barbara Martin (Berlin) had a lecture about Swiss lesbian writer Annemarie Schwarzenbach.

June: Since spring 1986 there have been perpetual efforts for the section to get a permanent club – all of them failed. In June sections organize two club evenings (the first female, the second mixed) in private caffe Stara cerkev. Despite the fact that they were very successful in all aspects, the owner doesn’t agree to more evenings.

August 10-24: First international lesbian camp on Rab (Croatia) with participants from Germany, Italy, England, Ireland, Portugal, Austria and Netherlands.

October 22: Newspaper Delo publishes protest of the sections against Jože Smole’s interpretation at Novi Sad meeting (1st because of its fascistoid implications, 2nd because Smole obviously “didn’t deserve it”).

November 20: GAYZINE 2 (publication with theory, literature, information)

December 10-18: Week of Lesbian Films (Desert Hearts, Olivia, Anne Trister, Lianna, Another Way)

December 18-24: MAGNUS Festival was renamed to Week of Gay Film Festival (Anger, Babenco, Genet, Kanievska, Molinaro, Morrisay…) which was held in ŠKUC Gallery.

December: Three mixed club evenings at Žagar’s.

December 31: New Year Eve’s party at Gallery Škuc.


1989

January 9: Magnus and LL ask ZSMS (now LDS) to:

  1. ZSMS representatives should represent the motion to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in constitutional committee
  2. The representatives should represent this motion also at changing Yugoslav constitution
  3. Related to (2), ZSMS should start a motion to delete paragraph 3, article 110 of Serbia’s penal code, paragraph 2, article 93 of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s penal code, paragraph 2, article 101 of Macedonia’s penal code and paragraph 3, article 81 of Kosovo’s penal code.
  4. ZSMS should over ZSMJ speak in favor of changing legislation to equally treat homo- and heterosexuals in laws which deal with sexual and family relations.

February: LESBOZINE 2 (information, literature)

May 8: Magnus’ and LL’s supplement in “Tribuna”.

June 1: GAYZINE 3

June 1-8: Week of gay film in Cankarjev dom (cultural and congress centre): Forever friends, Wendel, Fraud,…

May 28: Beginning of the disco in club K4. First, some evenings were Magnus evenings and other were LL evenings. In August the sections join evenings into a Gay and Lesbian Disco, which later changes its name into Roza disco; from starting 100 visitors it grows to 250 visitors (occasionally 350); before or in the disco there was occasionally additional program: tropical night (Aug 13), transvestite party (Aug 20), film projections (Torch Song Trilogy, Mascara, Liquid Sky, The Last of England), discussion about homophobia (Sep 9), presentation of antology of Slovenian homoerotic poetry Pieces of Glass in the Mouth (Sep 24), literary evening of Slovenian authors (Oct 22), discussion about homosexuality and politics (Oct 29), discussion about aids (Dec 3), transvestite show (Dec 24).

July 16-22: Participation of Magnus and LL on ILGA world conference in Vienna.

July-August: Open letter to Pavle Čelik (police) because of night attacks on homosexuals, discussion with Čelik and his public answer.

August: Badges Silence = Death to battle aids and homophobia.

September: Participation of Magnus and LL at Europe Against the Current in Amsterdam.

October: Participation of LL on “Lesbian Week” in Berlin.

November 3-5: Participation on the 13th congress of LDS (Liberal-Democratic Party): result was a support to MAGNUS and LL activities:

  • sexual orientation should enter Yugoslav and Slovene Constitution for the cases which are strictly prohibited to discriminate. This also means to equalize the age of consent for homosexual practice with heterosexual one.
  • possibility of “marriage” or registered relations for homosexual partners;
  • to abolish laws in Serbia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo.

1990

Roza Disco (transvestite show from Belgrade, carnival with sexy tombola)

January 25: Gay pages in Telex (“straight” magazine; ten numbers until 29.3. when Telex was closed down)

March 17: Whole day radio broadcast about homosexuality on RGL (Radio Glas Ljubljane is local radio which covers the city of Ljubljana and 1/3 of Slovenia).

Spring: Elections – cooperation with The List of Independent Social Movements

June 23: Members of MAGNUS and LL founded Roza klub – independent political association for prevention and abolishing of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and for defending of principles of equality on all levels of private and public life.

Autumn: Public Information to all media in Slovenia: Initiative Against Discrimination. Homosexuals are still second-class citizens in Slovenia, which shows in the fact that:

  • They are not allowed to form legally recognized partnerships with possibility of inheritance or adoption
  • They are pushed into “an alternative lifestyle” whether they like it or not and into a ghetto without the possibility to run a single own place.
  • Educational, cultural and other ideological forms see homosexuality in a way which makes emotional and social growing up difficult and promotes hypocrisy.
  • They are totally dependant of their environment being prepared to tolerate them or not, so they are often victims of different sorts of repression, including physical attacks. Their expression of sexual orientation can be a great risk to their physical, professional and social integrity.

Because it is every citizen’s right to have his rights and fundamentals freedoms protected by the government, and because rights and fundamental freedoms can’t be ensured silently or implicitly, especially if they’re connected to something, which is like homosexuality a subject to centuries of prejudice and repression, Roza klub started the following motions:

  1. Slovenian constitution should explicitly ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Article 13 of the draft of the constitution should read: “All people have equal rights regardless of nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other beliefs, material status, birth, education, social status or any other personal circumstance. Everybody is equal before the law.”
  2. Republic of Slovenia should not enter any association which criminalizes different sexual orientation.
  3. Law on family and partner relations should equally treat homo- and heterosexuals
  4. Government’s informational, educational, cultural and scientifical programs should find place for discussion of homosexuality and problems of homosexual citizens.

For easier realisation of this initiative and other initiatives whose goal is normal cohabitation of people, regardless of their sexual orientation, Roza klub proposes that the Government should open a center, named “Roza center”. Roza klub asked political parties to support this initiative in the parliament.

Bulletin of Roza klub (four times during the year: July, September, October, November)

October 11-14: Participation on the EuroCaso in Vienna

November 8: Beginnings of Roza val (Pink Wave) broadcasting emission that was going on national radio.

Roza Disco (Anja Rupel, fashion shows, male striptease, transvestite shows)

ŠKUC Publishing – The LAMBDA Collection: Blue Light – homoerotic love in Slovenian literature

December 3-7: Days of Gay Films (retrospective Rosa von Praunheim)

December: REVOLVER 1 – magazine for cultural and political questions, magazine with homoerotic load.


1991

Roza disco (Svetlana Makarovič, Ana Monro, Katja Levstik, Rimska cesta, Vita Mavrič) – still the one and only gay disco club in Ljubljana and Slovenia.

March: REVOLVER 2 – Declaration “Right to Be Different” signed by Liberal – Democratic Party, Green Party, Social – Democratic Party, Social – Democratic Youth, Party of Democratic Renewal, Socialistic Party, Slovenian Democratic Association, Women for Politics, Center for the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence and Roza klub.

April 19-21: Participation on ILGA conference for eastern and south – eastern Europe in Prague.

May – June: Financial Subvention to REVOLVER was suspended by Ljubljana City Government with explanation that REVOLVER is a pornographic magazine!!!

September 4-8: First Pink Camp in Ankaran (on Slovenian coast near Italian border)

REVOLVER 3 – still the only magazine with homosexual themes

December 1-22: GO-GAY Films: week of gay films (Young Rebels of Soul, Garden, Desire, Novembermond, Er moretto, Nokturno, The Law of Desire)

AIDS Action: banner “It’s Safer With Me” in cooperation with ŠOU (Students Organisation of University in Ljubljana).


1992

Roza disco: K4 – Marquis de Sade Theater, Jr. Gone Wild, Wild Boyz, Wild Girls (The Amazonas), transvestite shows, PinkVision – Three years of the only gay disco in town.

January: REVOLVER 4

January 14-28: Photo Exhibition “View at a Man” went on in ŠKUC Gallery (Alen Kos, Boštjan Lisec, Gorazd Majaron, Marko Radovan, Mio Vesovič).

January – March: Joy Disco – Gay disco opened and closed.

January – March: Flamingo restaurant – Opened and closed.

May 22: Third anniversary of Roza disco and Rozavizija.

June: Participation on HIV+ people at Goetingen, Germany

July: Participation on “Lesbians and European Community” in Munich, Germany

REVOLVER 5

August 26-30: Second Pink Camp in Grožnjan, Croatia

REVOLVER 6 – the only in Slovenia and the best of gay publications in Central and Eastern Europe.


1993

Roza disco: The Aftertouch (techno from Vienna), performance B.Brecht, dance performance “Fine Young Animals”, video programme, shows…

PANDORA – information for all lesbians (short, attractive, experienced)

KEKE(C) – the youngest gay newspaper

Aleksander Perdih and Silvo Zupanc addressed an initiative to Constitutional Court on March 15th, 1993 asking for possibility of marriage or registered partnership of same-sex partners (the initiative was based on the article of the Constitution which prohibits discrimination).

The Constitutional Court proved that the justice branch of administration isn’t as independent as it should be and asked Government and Secretariat for Law and Legal Matters for opinion. Both opinions was negative. The initiators withdrew their initiative from Constitutional Court (when the Constitutional Court decides on a matter, the decision is final – if the initiative was overruled, it would be impossible to re-submit it later).

Danica Simšič, MP and chairwoman of the parliament’s Committee for Health, Work, Family and Social Politics later told Mladina (March 14th, 1994), that if the initiative hadn’t been withdrawn, the committee would have overruled Government’s and Secretariat’s negative opinions.

December 5-12: 9th Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Wittgenstein, No skin of my ass, Forbidden love, Salmonberries, Paris is burning, Hours and times, Clarie of the moon, Les nuits fauves, Vor een verloren soldaat, Female misbehaviour, My father is coming, Poison, The living end, My own private Idaho, Being at home with Claude)


1994

The 10th Anniversary of gay movement in Slovenia: It was celebrated with exhibition “Tu smo” (“We are here”), Week of Gay and Lesbian Film, the Slovene Song of May in Roza Disco and of course the Castle incident (the city Government was involved in cancelling the celebration of the 10th anniversary in the City Castle).

December 4-11: 10th Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Three of Hearts, Super 8 1/2, Lunatic Theatre, Burning Ears (Rote Ohren fetzen durch die Asche), And the Band Played On, Strawberry and Chocolate (Fresa y chocolate), Parting Glances, Grief, Oliver, Oliver, Virgin Machine (Die Jugendfraumaschine))


1995

Roza disko: Dumb Type, OK girls, Severina, Mirč & Katice, Elena, Mateja Puhar, Rozavizija ’95

REVOLVER 14, 15, 16, 17

The second try to “legalize” same-sex marriages. Initiative to the parliament has been started to change the Marital Law to allow partners of the same sex to marry. The initiative is co-sponsored by Government’s Bureau for Women’s Politics. Vera Kozmik, the head of the bureau, said it was reasonable to expect the law to be changed within two years.

According to a poll, 57% of people here oppose same-sex marriages whereas 29% believe same-sex partners should be allowed to marry. The public opinion now is very similar to the public opinion several years ago on common-law partnership.

Working camp: with help from volunteers from abroad (Most/Service Civil International) we renovated gay and lesbian club on Metelkova street.

International Conference on Homosexuality took place in August. Detailed report is available here.

Safer-sex workshops (peer education) were held in Bohinj and Kranjska gora.

December 3-12: 11th Gay and Lesbian Film Festival took place (blessed by a sister of perpetual indulgence). (Totally f***ed up, A Litany For Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde, Sibak – Midnight Dancers, Thin Ice, Anata-ga suki desu, dai suki des (I Like You, I Like You Very Much), Utukushiki Nazo (Beautiful Mystery), A Place in the Sun)


1996

Roza disko: Anja Rupel, Nel’s fashion show, Dominik Kozarič, Get Ready for Papa (a week before Pope’s visit to Slovenia – free haircuts and astrological services), The Independance (rave party), Rozavizija ’96

REVOLVER 18, 19, 20, 21

Participation at demonstrations during Pope’s visit.

Working camp: with help from volunteers from abroad (Most/Service Civil International) we renovated our office.

Ljubljana hosted the 10th Regional ILGA Conference for Eastern, Southeastern and Central Europe. Detailed report is available here.

Magazine Lesbo started to appear instead of Pandora.

Gay bulletin Kekec re-appeared after a two-and-a-half-year break.

December 1-8: 12th Gay and Lesbian Film Festival took place. (Costa Brava, Neurosia: 50 year of perversion, B.D. Women, Shinyuku Boys, Beautiful thing, Stonewall, Life is a woman, Lie down with dogs, It’s my party, He is bold + he is a racist + he is gay + he is a fascist, Hustler White, Sebastian, The celluloid closet, Postcards from America, Butterfly kiss)


1997

Roza disko: Slo Active, Locker room, Black out 1 & 2, drag performances (Gala, Elena, Dafne and others)

Last issue of Revolver appeared. Revolver is no longer published due to financial problems.

Workshops for journalists (Kekec, Lesbo) were held in Ankaran.

Safer-sex workshops (peer education) were held in Ankaran and Izola.

Government invited Roza klub to participate in the work-group for a new law on marriage and family relations.

December 1-7: 13th Gay and Lesbian Film Festival took place. (The Delta, Isle of Lesbos, Like Grains of Sand, Latin Boys Go to Hell, All Over Me, Lillies)

Propaganda: new gay and lesbian club opens.


1998

Roza disko: (10 years of club K4) drag performances by Gala, Dafne, Booge Boys (Zagreb). Mr Gay & Miss Lesbo contests. Rozavision playback contest. DJs (residents and guests): Nataša, Mirč, Maja, Shark, Nyn, Mare (Nostrum), Krištof and many others.

Last issue of Kekec was published (and many ideas for his third revival).

April: Workshops for activists in Rabac

December 4: Conference on same-sex marriages with guests from the Ministry for family, work and social matters and opened by Štefka Kučan

November 29 – December 6: 14th Gay and Lesbian Film Festival – opened by Majda Širca, state secretary at Ministry of Culture (Just Happy the Way I Am, Total Eclipse, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Alive and Kicking, The Female Closet, Woubi, Cheri, Bugis Street, Honey, I’ve Sent the Men to the Moon, Like It Is, UnŠut, Everything will be fine)

Club Tiffany re-novated (re-opened December 12)

Vizibilija – new publisher of queer literature

Legebitra – the first Slovenian GLBT youth group is formed.


1999

Tiffany: film projections, pikado tournament, “gumitvist” tournament, flee markets, karaoke, making a park (a workshop), lectures & discussions: “gay short story”, “who is afraid of aids”, “catholic church and homosexuality – priests and gays”, “registered partnerships”; exhibitions: Andrej Brumen Čop (paintings), Gašper Zidar (paintings), Frenk Fidler (photographs), Mirča Jenča (photo collages, paintings of other artists), “Park” (installation by more authors).

Workgroup for drafting the bill on registered partnerships ended its work – the draft is now in the goverment procedure. It’s up to government now to send the draft to the parliament.

October: Kicked out. The club K4′s management partially closed down Roza disco because of “financial loss of the evenings”. They didn’t close down the rest of the financially bad evenings. Roza disco remains open as it was only once a month, other Sundays it’s open from 9 pm to 1 am.

November 28 – December 5: 15th Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Fucking Amal/Show me love, Skin Flick, Fire, Love is the Devil, Body without soul, Why not me?, Gods and Monsters, Lola and Bilidikid, Love and Death on Long Island, The Watermelon Woman, Happy Together)

The first issue of Oznanila (Legebitra’s bulletin) appears.


2000

Gay and lesbian sports group Out in Slovenija is formed.

November 26 – December 3: 16th Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Beauty, Murmur of Youth, Got 2B There, Water Drops on Burning Rocks, Paragraph 175, Blessed are those Who Thirst, Desperate Acquaintances, Bent, Better than Chocolate, Queer as Folk, Burning Money, Meeting Julie)


2001

UZI – Urad za intervencije (Office for interventions) is formed. It is an informal umbrella of various civil movements, including gay and lesbian. First actions are directed towards bad conditions of illegal migrants and asylum-seekers and conected hate-speech in media. Protests during Bush-Putin summit follow. bUZI – gay and lesbian section of UZI is formed in June to organize gay and lesbian pride (“buzi” is also a derogatory term for a gay man).

Lesbian magazine Lesbo re-appears.

Letter against homophobia – open letter of Društvo za nenasilno komunikacijo (Society for non-violent communication), co-signed by various NGOs, to Ministry of Education. Result of a school’s decision to ban a workshop about homosexuality.

Lesbian Library opens (theory, fiction, prose, poetry, strip)

Magnus organizes an international summer camp, with aim to increase visibility of GLBT community. Many actions (posters and rainbow flags all over the city), participation on pride, and at the end – July 13 – unfolding a 15-meters rainbow flag from the Ljubljana Castle tower.

First Gay and Lesbian Pride takes place on July 6 as a result of two gay men having been denied entrance to a caffé and of authorities’ failure to condemn this act of discrimination.
The pride was preceded by protest actions in that caffé. Participants drank only mineral water, as slowly as possible, thus reducing the owner’s profit.

Open letter to the mayor of Ljubljana, asking for condemnation of discrimination.

July 25: Delegation of gay and lesbian organizations is invited to a reception in the Ljubljana city hall for the first time – a result of pride, open letter, and other pressure actions directed towards the mayor.

September 28-30: safer sex workshops in Bohinj

October 1: the first lecture from cycle Human rights and sexuality: start your week with tolerance

October 8: Brane Mozetič pressed charges against Janez Rugelj, MD for inflamatory statements against religious and other minorities (punishable by article 300/I of Slovenian penal code) in an interview for magazine “Sodobnost”.

December 2-9: 17th Ljubljana Festival of Gay and Lesbian Film: O Fantasma, Queer As Folk 2, West fickt Ost, Metrosexuality, Bound, Trembling before G-D, Drole de Felix, High Art


2002

February 16: Transvestite trio Sestre (The Sisters) wins national contest for Eurosong. The Sisters get 12 points from both juries but receive less votes on tele-voting, which is later annuled because of iregularities. Slovenian homophobia awakens.