ABOUT ŠKUC LL:
ŠKUC LL is the only lesbian organisation in Slovenia. It is a grassroots organisation and an NGO. With its culturally and politically engaged projects, ŠKUC LL attacks the dispersion of lesbophobia, homophobia, transphobia, queerphobia and lgbtphobia and aims to bring to the forefront the ideals of an enlightened, inclusive, solidary, and egalitarian society. It participates in anti-government, anti-capitalist, feminist political, and cultural efforts, aiming at breaking the massive walls of civil apathy, political ignorance, ideological terror, and mind exploitation. It is, as such, in the public and common interest.
Lesbian Section ŠKUC-LL was established in 1987 as the first lesbian organisation in the former socialist Eastern European states. In 1988, LL became an autonomous section within the association ŠKUC (The Students’ Cultural Centre, one of the leading organisations for promoting non-profit artistic activity in Slovenia, formed in 1972). At the end of the eighties, lesbian activism became a constituent part of the new social, civil-rights movements and alternative culture, oriented toward the establishment of modern political culture and civil society. On the one hand, LL articulates political demands, and on the other, it socializes emerging forms of lesbian cultures, sociability and alternative thinking. This period is noted for intensive networking and making ties with related groups at the international and regional level, as well as breaking through into the media sphere, organizing social and discussion evenings and art events (Lesbian Film Week in 1988 in ŠKUC-Gallery in Ljubljana).
In the first half of the 90’s, the lesbian section ŠKUC-LL, which together with the group Magnus establishes the political association Roza klub, is a cofounder of various cultural and social projects: it launches the film festival, which later grows into the annual Days of Lesbian and Gay Film in Ljubljana; it assists in establishing the gay & lesbian magazine Revolver and the legendary Sunday Roza disko clubbing events in club K4; LL is a cofounder of GALfon, the LGBT information and help line.
After 1997, ŠKUC LL reverts to autonomous activism, based on grassroots lesbian politics, cultures and communities. It starts numerous projects, most of which are ongoing.
Throughout the years, LL has established five journals and magazines – Lesbozine, Pandora, Lesbo, Lezbnik and, as the member of Roza Club, the magazine Revolver. LL edits five thematic issues of gay and lesbian studies for the Journal of Criticism of Science. Furthermore, LL has established the first (and only) lesbian book edition in Slovenia, the Vizibilija edition at the ŠKUC publishing house. For more than thirty years now, LL has been producing the monthly Lezbomanija radio show on Ljubljana’s Radio Študent. LL has established and continues coordinating and nurturing permanent and stable lesbian spaces in Ljubljana: the LL Office, the Monokel nightclub, and the Lesbian Library & Archives. It was an integral part of the Network for Metelkova, which led to the Autonomous Cultural Center of Metelkova. It is also because of LL that LGBT parties are still held in the Ljubljana club K4. LL activists stand at the beginnings of the formation and continuation of events such as the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, gay and lesbian literature evenings or the Pride Parade. They established a lesbian scene and community. Because of them, lesbians, connected together or acting individually, are a powerful political, cultural, and social subject that cannot be overlooked within modern social dynamics. Because of this collective, communal energy and power, discourses about lesbianism have changed in the everyday life of society, in the media, politics, law, education, science, and art. For the better. The work continues.
ŠKUC LL PROJECTS (selection):
Political Action
As the only lesbian organisation in Slovenia, ŠKUC LL presents an invaluable hub of lesbian, feminist and LGBT grassroots activism on a national and regional level. ŠKUC LL’s political activism is formed through public engagement, dialogue and pressure tactics; it is aimed at state as well as international institutions, the general public and the media. It includes: Advocacy for equal opportunities, promotion of civil and human rights, introduction of anti-discriminatory legislation, abolishment of institutionalised discrimination and homophobia, improvement of the social status of lesbians and other LGBT+ persons, cooperation with the international lesbian and LGBT movements and conceptually related activist initiatives within the local framework (UZI-Office For Interventions; CNVOS-Centre of Non Governmental Organizations of Slovenia, etc.).
The ŠKUC LL political action rests on three main pillars:
⬛ Political agitation: Monitoring and reacting to legislative procedures and media discourses; active participation in decision-making on a national level; protests.
⬛ Lesbian Sociability: continuously providing crucial infrastructure – Lesbian Bar and Club Monokel (est. 1993) as a space for gathering, partying, literary and art events, conferences, forums by and for the lesbian community, lectures, group meetings, DJ workshops, etc., and the Lesbian Library and Archives as a hangout space, a space for meetings, research, and action planning; the library also serves as a entry point into the lesbian community to numerous lesbians and queer people who prefer to avoid parties and other mass events.
⬛ Lesbian Art, Culture and Knowledge production, and preservation of lesbian histories: lesbian archives; LGBT+ archives; lesbian and LGBT+ library; international collaboration with lesbian groups and organisations; book publishing; book translation; autonomous research; support for researchers; public radio show, and more.
Selected activities and/or ongoing projects:
—“EQUAL: Partnership for Equality”: This project is the first cooperation in Slovenia between a non-governmental organization (NGO) and social partners – the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia and the Association of Employers of Slovenia – and its goal is to eliminate inequality based on sexual orientation in employment. As part of this project, a television spot “Stop Homophobia! A Safe Workplace for All” was created in 2007 (presents the first television spot on the topic of homosexuality in Slovenia, and as a humanitarian spot, it was broadcast for free by all television stations in Slovenia – except Adria MTV, which refused to air it).
Handbook: »ANTI-DISCRIMINATION MEASURES IN EMPLOYMENT FOR TRADE UNIONS« (»UKREPI PROTI DISKRIMINACIJI V ZAPOSLOVANJU ZA SINDIKATE«). PDF>>
Handbook: »MEASURES AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT FOR EMPLOYERS« (»UKREPI PROTI DISKRIMINACIJI V ZAPOSLOVANJU ZA DELODAJALCE«)
—“PROGRESS: Diversity Management in Employment” (“PROGRESS: Upravljanje raznolikosti v zaposlovanju”): follows the previous Equal project and upgrades it; supported by EU PROGRESS and Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the Republic of Slovenia, and in cooperation with Federation of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia and the Association of Employers of Slovenia.
Includes a series of workshops, designed and realised by ŠKUC LL, for employers and employees in various companies and institutions; “LGBTIQ Friendly Certificate” for companies, institutions and unions (ongoing; in cooperation with Legebitra and Transakcija); handbooks »Managing Diversity in Employment: Guidelines for Employers and Unions« (»Upravljanje raznolikosti v zaposlovanju: smernice za delodajalce in sindikate«) and »Diversity Management in Employment: Best practices in Slovenia« (»Dobre prakse v Sloveniji – upravljanje raznolikosti v zaposlovanju«).
As part of the national media campaign, two television spots, “Diversity in Employment”, were created. In 2010, the videos received the third prize in the “Best NGO Video” competition, awarded by the 9th Festival of Slovenian NGOs.
—“PINK ALARM” (orig. ROZA ALARM):
The Roza-ALARM website is intended for reporting, informing about and monitoring violence, abuse and discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and queer people. It allows for quick and easy reporting of violations and immediate access to help and support. Launched on 10 December 2009. See website. The project was later adopted and developed for Croatia by Zagreb Pride under the name “Rozi megafon”.
—ŠKUC LL LESBIAN MANIFESTO
Educational Action
The opening of academic doors to gender and sexuality studies: lesbian and gay studies in Časopis za kritiko znanosti, the cooperation with the University of Ljubljana and related academic spheres; tutorial work. Publishing of educational booklets (Safe Sex for Women; Homophobia; Employment; LGBT Parenthood, Human Rights, etc.) and research studies (international research ‘Discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation’).
Research >>
ŠKUC-Vizibilija Publishing
ŠKUC Publishing is the only LGBT publishing house in Slovenia. The entire publishing process is ran by lesbian and LGBT people; the authors come from LGBT communities, the editors are queer writers and activists, and that also goes for translators (the latter whenever possible).
ŠKUC Vizibilija is a literary book edition that promotes lesbian authors and lgbt literature. Since 1998, Vizibilija has published dozens of literary and theoretical texts from the fields of lesbian studies, gender studies and sexuality, predominantly those aimed at demolishing and deconstructing the concepts of indisputed reality through radical criticism and revolutionary diction. The catalogue includes numerous works of poetry (e.g. Natalie Diaz, Pat Parker, Nataša Velikonja, also the first poetry book by a transgender author in Slovenia, Ingo Öri), prose (e.g. Selby Wynn Schwartz, Nataša Sukič), film theory (Teresa de Lauretis, Andrea Weiss), lesbian music theory (e.g. Nina Dragičević), feminist and lesbian archaeology (e.g. Tatjana Greif), history of gender and sexuality (Kelley Hays-Gilpin, Margaret W. Conkey, Janet D. Spector, Roberta Gilchrist, etc.), history of lesbian and feminist literature (Lillian Faderman), lesbian-feminist criticism (Monique Wittig) and art (Jeanette Winterson etc.).
It is safe to say that the cultural, namely, literary production of lesbian and LGBT authors is nowadays the leading activist channel for LGBT communities in Slovenia. With their numerous awards and persistent public presence, the Slovenian authors of the ŠKUC Publishing House, many of whom are also activists, infuse the lesbian and LGBT social critique into the public discourse and constantly change it with their linguistic innovations, sui generis artistic discourses and anti-LGBTphobic stances.
See BOOK CATALOGUE
ŠKUC LL also runs the annual reading event called The Great Lesbian Reading (Veliko lezbično branje).
As we understand that cultural and artistic activism is a force to be reckoned with, The Great Lesbian Reading Night aims to enable a safe space for anyone from the LGBT community (both local and international) who wishes to present their writing. It includes readings, musical performances, and free food. There is no entry fee, thus making it available for persons from any walks of life and all social classes. It is an independent annual event produced without any financial support, be it from the government or other institutions.
Taking place in our lesbian club Monokel, the Reading usually takes six to seven hours and attracts close to two hundred listeners (mainly from the LGBT community) and around thirty to forty authors, many of whom are making their first public appearance, while the others may already be established and awarded authors.
The main idea of the event is to enforce no discrimination as to whether the authors are already established or have published any books. The event is entirely transgenerational; the attending poets and writers are anywhere from approx. 18 to 80 years of age. At once a literary event, a social gathering, a safe space and a space for new ideas and political articulation, The Great Lesbian Reading Night is a unique assemblage of art and activism both nation- and regionwide.
Lesbian Bar Monokel
In September 1993, section ŠKUC-LL, together with other urban subcultures and scenes, art and cultural vanguards, squatted the ex-Yugoslav army barracks on Metelkova and Masarykova street in Ljubljana and gained its first club-places. The lesbian bar Monocle in Metelkova City is a place, where on approximately 50 square meters and with the help of sociable, cultural, musical, gallery and discussion aids the illusions of spending nights clubbing regardless of sexual or any other orientation quickly become reality.
Lesbian Library & Archives
The Lesbian Library & Archive was established on May 1st 2001. It is a place for the systematic collection of literature and documentary material, related to LGBT issues and to the field of gender and sexuality. It covers theory, prose and poetry, periodicals, comics, media archive, audio-video collection, photo archive, archive documents, etc. Although the LGBT contexts are the most represented in the library fond, the library detects many other focal points of differentiation on the level of sexuality, body and gender. The catalogue of the library is accessible on-line: www.ljudmila.org/lesbo.
The ŠKUC LL Lesbian Library & Archive runs a project of developing the Slovene GLBT bibliography (available on the website). Lesbian Library & Archive is – along with Škratova’s reading-room of KUD Anarhiv, the library of Peace Institute, Stripburger and the Institute of Contemporary Art – connected into the Network of Autonomous Libraries in Ljubljana.
Journals and Magazines
Throughout the years, ŠKUC-LL published and participated in the creation of several magazines – Lesbozine, Pandora, Lesbo, Lezbnik. Within the Roza Club, it participated in the establishment of the Revolver magazine. Its activists edited five thematic issues of gay and lesbian studies for Časopis za kritiko znanosti (Journal for the Critique of Science).
More about the magazines: https://skuc-ll.si/revije/
Radio program Lezbomanija
Radio program about lesbians and LGBT communities. Live monthly on Ljubljana’s Radio Student, 89.3 Mhz UKV Stereo. In its beginning in July 1998, it was a part of a cultural editorial and later on joined the project MultiKulti. Since 2000, it has been a member of the international network of feminist radio stations of AMARC. News and information; analysis and commentary of media and political realities and discourse about homosexuality; reviews and cri-tics of cultural events; interviews; opinion polls; presentations of current GLBT projects. Music: alternative rock, trip-hop, drum’n’bass, ambiental.
