In-betweenness: Lesbianity in socialist Slovenia

This paper examines lesbianity (i.e., a less pathological term in Slavic languages than lesbianism) and the politicisation of lesbianity in socialist Slovenia during the "democratisation" processes in the 1980s and the early 1990s. The cumulative effect of various developments led to the first collective lesbian public self-representation (such as the media pamphlet "We Love Women"), and subsequently to the establishment of the group Lesbian Lilit (LL) in 1987. This paper traces lesbian organising in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia through interactions with the Yugoslav new feminist scene and the Slovene gay movement until 1993, when the squatting of the emptied Yugoslav army complex Metelkova in Ljubljana took place. The alliance of lesbian activism with more established feminist and gay political activist organising allows an examination of lesbianity through what I call "in-betweenness". Finally, the paper accounts for the missed - and still missing - chance for establishment of the Yugoslav Lesbian Socialist Party.