LGBTQIA+ Activism in Slovakia During the 1990s

Jana Nyx Bordováč

Introduction

The Velvet revolution opened up Czechoslovakia to the West, and part of that were rights for queer people (which was a trend that was just starting). The 1990s were full of queer activism all over Slovakia, building networks and connections that are used to this day. Even so, some of their crucial goals (such as registered partnerships) have not been reached. Many of the activities or organisations do not exist anymore, either because they united and transformed into another initiative, or because people stopped organising them. The 1990s were a time of hope, a time of new beginnings - belonging to the West, where queer people started being recognised.

Queer history of Slovakia

Homosexuality was illegal in Czechoslovakia during the first Czechoslovak republic because the criminal law code that they were using included homosexuality (Jablonická-Zezulová, 2024). There were people who were campaigning against this - namely, Imrich Matyáš, who was the only Slovak person (that we know of) that was writing for Hlas sexuální menšiny (a Prague based magazine aiming for decriminalisation of homosexuality) (Jablonická-Zezulová, 2024). As homosexuality was illegal and seen as a disorder, many gay people were facing issues, including suicide because they were not able to live in society in a way that was authentic. Accusations of homosexuality were also used for blackmail. All in all, it was not a great time to be queer.

Imrich Matyáš survived the Second World War, and continued on with his campaign, although the movement was not revived, and homosexuality was still illegal (Brozman, 2018). Nonetheless, he continued campaigning, writing letters to the administration, trying to convince them (Jablonická-Zezulová, 2024). Later, his campaign was joined by Kurt Freund, who was a doctor tasked with finding a cure for homosexuality, failing, and realising that maybe cure is not necessary - decriminalisation is (Brozman, 2018; Jablonická-Zezulová, 2024). Eventually, their efforts came to fruition in 1961, when homosexuality was decriminalised in Czechoslovakia (Jablonická-Zezulová, 2024).

However, decriminalisation only meant that it was no longer punishable to have gay sex. The age of consent for gay sex was 18, while it was 15 for straight sex (Kozubík, n.d.). Decriminalisation did not mean that society was accepting, or that it suddenly became normalised. Stigma and invisibility still continued, the only times homosexuality was mentioned in the media was when it was connected with something negative (crime statistics, immorality, and the like - for instance, the case of Martina Navratilova, who was a tennis player who emigrated to the United States, and who was also a lesbian - she was used as an example of a traitor and showing the ‘decadent West’) (Hudec, 2024a; Kováč, 2021; Rindošová & Rodák, 2024; Sedmidubský & Drda, 2024). Homosexuality was still used for blackmail, the ŠtB kept records (so called ‘pink lists’) of gay people in each district (Hudec, 2024b; Kuruc, 2020a).

That did not mean gay people did not exist. They did - they gathered, generally in flats or homes of other gay people, having to know them personally to be able to enter (Jankovič, 2020; Kuruc, 2021a). Alternatively, there were places in Bratislava to go if one wanted a hook-up (public bathrooms in the so-called ‘pink triangle’ - at Šafárikovo square, in front of the Philharmony, and at the Slovak National Uprising Square) (Kuruc, 2019b; Kuruc, 2021a).

On the other hand, since Czechoslovakia was rather physically isolated from the West, HIV/AIDS were not as big of a problem there than in the West. First articles about it were from the early 1980s, mentioning a strange disease in the US that was plaguing gay men (Lábajová & Rodák, 2024). In the second half of the 1980s, there was an attempt to adjust the tests used for HIV/AIDS to increase their sensitivity and thus effectiveness - they were expensive and had to be bought from the West, so they wanted to save money (Lábajová & Rodák, 2024).

In the late 1980s, shortly before the Velvet Revolution, Lambda (a magazine published by the Prague-based Institute for Sexuology) started being published (Brozman, 2018; (Kuruc, 2020a). It was also a community of people, later turned gay activists. Thanks to them, the age of consent for gay sex was lowered so that it was the same as age of consent for straight sex, in 1990 (Brozman, 2018; Kozubík, n.d.; Queer Memory, 2021a).

In the early 1990s, activist groups and organisations started being founded. SOHO (Sdružení organizací homosexuálních občanů) in Czechia, who were also publishing a magazine (SOHO Revue), or Ganymedes in Bratislava (Brozman, 2018; Jablonická-Zezulová, 2018; Queer Memory, 2021a).

Ganymedes was focusing mostly on the needs of gay (and bi) men, so later, Museion was founded, for lesbians (Lesba.sk, n.d.). An off-shoot of Museion, in Banská Bystrica, became Altera (Kuruc, 2019a; Lesba.sk, n.d.; Rindošová & Rodák, 2024). Later, there was also HaBio, which was again in Bratislava, and it was a group of gay and bi students (Kuruc, 2020b). Throughout the 1990s, several things were organised in Slovakia. There was an ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association) conference in Bratislava, during which there was a small, Pride-like march; there were multiple gay film festivals; Slovakia was represented at Gay Games (Olympic-like event, but for queer people); and several queer publications were being published (Hudec, 2024a; Kuruc, 2020b; Kuruc, 2020c; Lesba.sk, n.d.).

In 2000, a lot of Slovak queer organisations united to create Iniciatíva Inakosť, which exists to this day (Iniciatíva Inakosť, n.d.; Kuruc, 2019a; Kuruc, 2020b; Queer Memory, 2021a). One of their first aims was to legalise registered partnerships. In the same year, there was a March of Tolerance (organised by People Against Racism Association) where Iniciatíva Inakosť was able to read their demands (Queer Memory, 2021b). There were also several Marches of Otherness, in Bratislava, Košice, and Banská Bystrica (akin to Pride) ( (Kuruc, 2020b; Queer Memory, 2021b). There have been several campaigns aiming to legalise registered partnerships in Slovakia, none of which were successful (Kozubík, n.d.; Lesba.sk, n.d.). Several politicians at those times have expressed their disdain for it (Hudec, 2024b). An anti-discrimination law was passed, and it does include recognition of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

All of this was activism focusing mostly on rights of gay people (maybe the first three letters of LGBTQIA+). Trans activism in Slovakia started in 2010 through the creation of TransFúzia (by Christián Havlíček and Romina Kollárik, later joined by Zara Kromková) (Thimble, 2023). The regulations for official changes of gender were not unified, causing bureaucratic issues, which has real life consequences for trans people (Thimble, 2023). And even the sliver of positive news (when in 2021 there was a new regulation by the Healthcare Ministry that stopped mandating sterilisation for this change, and instead needing hormone replacement therapy for a specific amount of time), it was stopped after a month, and then came the attempts to make legal change of gender impossible.

Background on data

Whenever an interview or an activist is referenced as stating something, this information comes from an interview that was conducted with them. Majority of the interviews were published in QYS Magazine (Magazín Queer Youth Slovakia), which has been published by Nomantinels since 2016. Its printed form is published quarterly. The aim of the magazine is to inform about queer topics in an objective and interesting manner, with the target audience being queer people from Slovakia (Magazín QYS, n.d.).

Some of the interviews mentioned were from “Stories of the 20th Century: Same Love” (Príbehy 20. Storočia: Rovnaká láska) by Post Bellum, which includes several interviews and articles about queer culture, history, and activism, and it was published in 2024.

Lastly, some of the text refers to quotes from the book “Trigger” (Spúšť) which mostly talks about the Tepláreň terror attack, but also covers queer life and activism of the 1980s and 1990s, and even includes quotes from various activists.

Analysis of queer activism in the 1990s, roughly

The 1990s were full of hope for the future, hope that democracy would bring in more rights, more equality (Wiesnerová, 2013). The desire of Czechoslovakia, and later Slovakia, to be more Western than Eastern, which for gay activists included rights for them. In the 1990s, some countries started allowing that, and activists in both Czechia and Slovakia had hoped that, in order to be (or appear) more Western, their countries might do the same (Hudec, 2024a).

As such, three important issues were identifiable in the activism of the 1990s. The early years were mostly marked by community building and HIV/AIDS awareness while the later by campaigning for registered partnerships.

During the authoritarian era, official communities for gay people did not exist (the exception to the rule was Lambda and that was at the very end of the 1980s) (Kuruc, 2020a). But during the early 1990s, there was a surge in gay organisations, and a big part of what they were doing was concerned with community. SOHO revue was differentiating between “gay and lesbian minority” (anyone who was gay or lesbian) and “gay and lesbian community” (people who were gay/lesbian and actually knew each other) (Brozman, 2018). Slovak gay organisations seemed to have that also on their minds, and they organised meet-ups, parties, balls, sports events, or other things (Kuruc, 2020b; Kuruc, 2020c; Kuruc, 2021; Lesba.sk, n.d.). Another aspect of the community engagement was the publications they had (L-listy and later Atribút), film festivals, or even helplines (Kuruc, 2019a; Kuruc, 2020b; Lesba.sk, n.d.).

There was an international aspect to it, people from several gay organisations have travelled abroad (to Berlin or Amsterdam) basically to learn how LGBTQIA+ activism was done there (Kuruc, 2021). That is also where they realised how big of a threat HIV/AIDS were. As such, some organisations (especially those that focused more on men) also started raising awareness about that issue, through leaflets and such, and when possible, even through handing out condoms for free at parties (Queer Memory, 2021a; Kuruc, 2019b).

Later on (in Slovakia basically in 1997) they started campaigning for registered partnerships. There have been several campaigns done through several means (going directly to politicians, raising awareness among the masses…) but none were successful thus far.

In Czechia, it went differently. Although the first attempt was unsuccessful (which may have worked as a ‘cold shower’ of sorts to the optimistic activists), later on, in 2006, Czechia legalised registered partnerships (Brozman, 2018; Kozubík, n.d.).

Analysis of the attitudes

According to Slovak queer activists active during the 1990s, they were joyful and hopeful, because it seemed like everything would improve (Hudec, 2024a). Much hard work would have to be done, but overall, the worst was behind them and their inclination towards the West would make everything better for them.

However, with activism, first they had to create some sort of net, activism cannot just rely on people one knows personally from elsewhere - with that, SOHO revue was helpful (for instance, it put Hana Fábry in contact with Ivan Požgai) , and eventually, a net was created with some organisation or an offshoot of an organisation all over Slovakia (Hudec, 2024b; Lesba.sk, n.d.). However, that took time to develop.

Activism is difficult work, and it was often unsustainable - that is why projects or publications often stopped after several years, or organisations dissolved (Kuruc, 2019a).

According to some activists, while the system of governance changed in Slovakia (during the Velvet Revolution), the attitudes did not (Kuruc, 2019c). Being gay was still taboo, still unacceptable, even if they were not necessarily any ‘pink lists’ anymore. That had to be changed as well. There were also certain external issues - for instance the rise of neo-nazis and other right wing extremists, who attacked those who did not fit into their worldview on the street (the most prominent of that would probably be the murder of Daniel Tupý, which still has not been resolved twenty years later) (Kuruc, 2019b; Nociar, 2012).

One activist points out the change in his communication with Christians. Before the Velvet revolution, he could talk to Christians without an issue, because they were united by a common enemy (the authoritarian state). However, after the revolution, it stopped being the case because the Christians were no longer an oppressed group under the new regime (Lábajová & Rodák, 2024). Hana Fábry mentioned that, in her opinion, it took Christians roughly ten years to recover from the authoritarian era, and that afterwards they started being more and more active, and actively queerphobic (Hudec, 2024b). That decade would roughly coincide with the start of the campaign for registered partnerships.

Conclusion

Queer history of Slovakia is full of disappointments. It took decades to decriminalise homosexuality, and even following that, people were blackmailed over their homosexuality. After the Velvet Revolution, people were hoping for changes - but those were happening rather slowly. In the 1990s, first people focused on community building and AIDS awareness, only in the second half of the decade did they start engaging in politics to bring changes into law. The first half of the decade would be connected more with a positive outlook and expectations of changes, whereas the second would become more pessimistic, possibly coinciding with the movement taking on a new task - campaigning for registered partnerships, unsuccessfully. 

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