lgbt-ee

[lgbt-ee]

from Lyudmila and Natasha: Russian Lives, by Misha Friedman, 2015

[lgbt-ee]

1993, Slovenia, covers of lesbian magazine Pandora

[lgbt-ee]

Asya Savinova and Yelena Khakimova, founders of Siberian Initiatives, Russia, 1991

[lgbt-ee]

The Belarusian government has called same-sex relationships "fake" after blasting the UK embassy in Minsk for displaying a rainbow flag on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT).

In an official statement released on Sunday, the Belarusian interior ministry said "same-sex relationships are fake" and admonished the UK embassy in the country for displaying a rainbow flag on May 17 for IDAHOT.

"This day has never been and is not in any way memorable or significant in our country," the statement said.

"The reason is obvious: The overwhelming majority of Belarusians adhere to traditional family values, including Christian ones. A statement of this kind [by the British Embassy] is a challenge to these values."

"Say what you will, but single-sex relationships are a fake. The LGBT community and all this fight for 'their rights' and the community's day - it's all just fake!," it added.

[lgbt-ee]

hi wanted to share 1. this good article in polish about polish lesbian theatre scene czaskultury pl/czytanki/o-poszukiwaniu-teatru-lesbijskiego-w-polsce 2. this issue of their magazine is mostly about lgbt rights and art - it can be bought online or read in libraries czaskultury pl/magazyn/czas-kultury-12018-196/

hello! sorry to say i don���t know polish so can’t really read that but thank you for sharing, here’s the links for easy access if any of our polish speaking followers would like to check that out:

1. polish lesbian theatre scene

2. magazine about lgbt rights and art

[lgbt-ee]

A Lithuanian book “Amber heart” (“Gintarinė širdis”) by Neringa Dangvydė contains magical stories for children about people with disabilities, same-sex couples, Roma and other socially vulnerable groups. The Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences that published the collection removed it from bookstores and proclaimed it to be “harmful, primitive and purposeful propaganda of homosexuality”. On top of that, the Lithuanian Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics concluded that two fairy tales that promote tolerance for same-sex couples are harmful to minors and should be marked by the index “N-14” (a Lithuanian rating indicating certain media is only for children aged 14 years and up)

read an English version of one of the fairytales here

[lgbt-ee]

Paintings by gay Romanian artist Cornel Brudaşcu (1937-)

[lgbt-ee]

Eastern European lesbian poets, writers.

Irena Klepfisz (1941-) is a Jewish-Polish lesbian activist, author, academic. Currently lives in America. 

Marina Chen (1970-), is a Koryo-saram lesbian poet from Russia.

Olga Krause (1953-) is a Jewish lesbian from Russia, a poet, author, and musician.

Erzsébet Galgóczi (1930-1989), was a Hungarian writer, playwright, and screenwriter. Started living openly as a lesbian from the 1970s.

Sophia Parnok (1885-1933), often dubbed as “the Russian Sappho”, was a Jewish-Russian lesbian poet, and the first openly-lesbian poet of Russia.

Anna Barkova (1901-1976), was a Soviet poet, who survived three periods of inprisonment, the first arrest was for writing an ironic poem about Stalin. Wrote about her sexuality in her diary.

Nataša Velikonja (1967-) is a sociologist, poet, essayist, translator, lesbian activist from Slovenia.

Masha Gessen (1967-) is a Jewish-Russian and American journalist, author, activist. Described as "Russia's leading LGBT rights activist".

Mima Simić (1976-) is a Croatian writer, film critic, translator, and an LGBT rights activist.

[lgbt-ee]

from a 1997 Romanian LGBT magazine called Accept:

To those who keep SILENT (by Filip Alexandru)

Immediately after I heard the news of Diana’s death on that Sunday morning, I ran to the T.V. set and started zipping through the channels. Everywhere - stories, the Princess. Photographs. News. Reports. Interviews. The whole world, it seemed, was in grief. At Buckingham Palace, flowers began to pile up. After several shots, something caught my eye: amongst the first comers, a gay couple. They each came holding a bouquet and, although not necessarily willing to show it, a few gestures, a few looks were enough to say that they were together.

A few days later, while the funeral convoy passed along London’s streets, the cameras rested for a few seconds on another gay couple. This time, much more explicit. One man was crying, while his lover comforted him. The image was so simple, yet so amazingly expressive. Everything was so natural that, paradoxically, I had a feeling of sur-reality. In that moment I felt, maybe more than ever, how harmful the lack of expressing oneself can be. This sensation of sur-reality, pushed almost towards discomfort, was the consequence of the continuos, programmed suffocation of what is, in fact, the natural in ourselves. It was the sensation of recognition, of return to the original moment: the feeling, the mood, the thought. In front of my eyes, two people were hugging, in public, without making any political statement, without trying to shock, with no connotation, no programmed aim. They were two people in love with each other and trying to mutually offer the protection and comfort they both needed. A spontaneous act. It was what they were feeling and their gesture did not attempt to show this, but was rather a consequence, a natural reaction to their inner state.

We get lost, most of the time, while searching for explanations, reasons, excuses, lies, answers, forms, words, words, words. It is only natural. Before the social conventions, the more or less scientific debates, the pseudo-moral or religious arguments, it is only normal to answer to defend yourself, maybe even hide. At the end of this process, however, all we are left with are explanations, reasons, definitions, … words. To the extent that, when confronted with an image such as that mentioned above, we almost fail to recognize ourselves. The feeling itself is lost before the weapons that, originally, were called to defend it.

We must get used again to talk about what we feel. We must get used again to hearing our own voices. This isn’t an easy road. For those spending years in the dark, light can be painful in the beginning. For those who do not utter a sound for years, talking, speaking out what they would like to say is just as difficult and unbearable at first. They realise not only that their own sounds frighten them, but also that words, unused for so long, refuse to serve their thoughts. Little by little, however, they discover that they have so many things to say. Indeed, and, see, they had never thought that would be!

It is exactly what we must start to do, as soon as possible. We have been silent for too long. I would like to trust that what I have seen on Sky News will be, at some point, possible here as well. Obviously, it will take of time. Still, we must start somewhere. On our exercise to rediscover the natural, we must get used again to hearing our voices.

[lgbt-ee]

The Belarusian project “LGBT-Twins” is a comprehension of that unique experience of mutual support that LGBT-Twins have. Loneliness (especially in the family) is the most common problem for people who aren’t heterosexual and/or cisgender. The stories of the heroines and heroes of this project show that understanding and support are a necessity for any child, teenager and adult. The presence or absence of this support affects not only the relationship that a person has with the world, and their self-esteem, but also the level of internal homophobia.

Furthermore, we wanted to draw attention to the discrimination that LGBT people experience in post-Soviet countries, the early experiences of the heroes, who grew up without a wide access to information. Reflectivity and awareness are also determined by geographical specifics - when moving a lot of the heroines and heroes felt themselves to be stronger and more free, they got access to information important for their identity and cultural resources.

1st image - “My sister is important to me. She is the most important person in my life. I am very scared that our relationship might go bad.”

2nd image - “Growing up with a twin sister is growing up with a best friend. No one can be closer to you, neither your mom, nor your dad or your friends.”

you can support this project through their vk page (which is in russian)

[lgbt-ee]

LGBT Siberians, 1991

[lgbt-ee]

from Lietuva atsiskleidžia: 99 LGBT+ istorijos (Lithuania comes out: 99 LGBT+ stories), published in 2016. Photography by ARCANA FEMINA.

Evelina & Aušra

Aušra: Sometimes a random man will walk up to us and try to talk to us. At first I try to be simple and friendly with him, but it often happens that for reasons I don’t understand, they’ll start flirting with me. I tell them that me and Evelina are a couple and then the various weird comments start. No idea why everyone has so much to say on this topic. Saying that we shouldn’t live like this or maybe we aren’t even attracted to each other and so on. The last time, we were unpleasantly surprised by two foreigners, a french man and an italian man. We were sitting with some friends at an outdoor cafe, they sat down next to us. Our friends agreed, and they started talking to us, but they didn’t feel any limits whatsoever. One of them started telling us that sex with a man is very good, and that we are missing out. It was really uncomfortable for us. Of course, we could have not said that we are a couple, but why must we lie?

[lgbt-ee]

Graffiti in Kranj, Slovenia that originally read “Lezbijke na kole / Put lesbians on stakes” and was later modified to read “Pred lezbijke na kolena / Bow before the lesbians”

[lgbt-ee]

Adam Adach, For Such Things As Love, 2009, oil on canvas.

This painting was a part of the 2010 ‘Ars Homo Erotica’ exhibition in Warsaw.

[lgbt-ee]

2004, Serbian lesbian magazine Labris

[lgbt-ee]

The precursor of Polish gay art is Krzysztof Jung (1951-1998), a performer who in the 1970s associated himself with the counter-cultural varsovian “Repassage” gallery. Jung's performances, as preserved by photographs, show a fascination with the naked body, especially the aesthetics of the male nudity. In the visual culture of the People's Republic of Poland, the male body was deformed and concealed, but thanks to Krzysztof Jung its beauty survived puritanical socialism. The artist's performances featured a theme of two men as partners, reflecting on the relationship between them and finding a way out of the repressive ties that bind them. These performances, in which he himself took part, were a form of sexual counter-culture in the People's Republic of Poland. Already in Jung's art one can see features characteristic of gay art: the dominance of male sexuality, an erotic view of the male body and intimate relations between men, and existence in a repressive society.

– excerpt from the book Art Pride. Gay Art from Poland (thank you @elfmoss​ for help with translation!)

you can read more about Krzysztof and his art here

[lgbt-ee]

2001, Serbian lesbian magazine Labris