1988 införde det brittiska underhuset ett tillägg till Local Governement Act, som stadgade att lokala offentliga verksamheter “shall not intentionally promote homosxuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality” och man fick inte heller “promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. Lagen gick under olika namn, Clause 28, Section 28, och Section 2A, beroende på olika beteckningar i brittisk lagstiftning.
Lagen uppfattades som en diskrimineringslag mot homosexuella och den bekämpades kraftigt med många olika metoder.
Sverige fick besök av en engelsk ‘Stop Clause 28-kampanj’ som reste runt i Europa under våren 1988 för att väcka internationellt stöd för att stoppa lagen. I Göteborg framställde dessutom några aktivister detta brevkort, På baksidan krävdes att lagen skulle dras tillbaka och mottagaren var förtryckt: Mrs Thatcher, Prime Minister, Nr 10 Downing Street, London, UK.
Brevkortet kopierades i många exemplar som undertecknades individuellt, frankerades och lades på postlådan.
Lagen avskaffades slutligen år 2000 i Skottland och 2003 i resten av Storbrittannien.

Från 1970-talet blev det vanligt att visa sina åsikter och vem man ville vara genom att bära märken, badges eller knappar. Men man var på många olika sätt och det kunde märkena också berätta om. Här är exempel på fem märken som på olika sätt markerade en tillhörighet till tidens gueera gemenskaper:
1. RFSL-knappen (aktivistbeviset)
Den använde jag för att markera min sexualpolitiska hemvist och när jag representerade den officiella organsiationen i olika sammanhang.
2. Rosa triangeln, den stora och slitna (historicitet)
Rosa triangeln markerade både solidaritet med historiens offer och kamp mot samtidens förtryck. Just min rosa triangel tror jag är köpt i Stockholm och den är hantverksmässigt gjord. Den är sliten och det var nog det märke som jag bar mest och oftast.
3. Bögar mot förtryck och fascism (vänsterbög)
Ett märke som för mig markerade både ett sexualpolitiskt och allmänpolitiskt ställningstagande i samtiden. Bars med stolthet i demonstationståg av alla slag.
4. Kukmotkuk – Direkt aktion (provokation)
Ett sexualrevolutionärt märke från ca 2005, ett av flera provokativta märken som skapades av sexualrevolutionära aktivister i Göteborg som hotade/hatade normativiteten och gick under flera olika namn, fjollfront, könsanarki, kukmotkuk och andra. Men jag misstänker att just detta märke nästan aldrig varit utanför min bostad….
5. One of the 3 million (mer otydlig)
Märket är köpt i en queerbokhandel i London på 1980-talet. Det är osäkert vilka tre miljoner bäraren representerar, men den starka rosa färgen och den lila texten gav ändå tydliga indikationer för den som visste… Ett märke som uppfattades som mer neutralt men som ändå gav upphov till frågor och kommentarer hos dem jag mötte i vimlet av queera och straighta.

Этот плакат мы рисовали вместе с немецкой организацией Quarteera и LSVD на гей-прайде 2011 в Гамбурге. Написали за 20 минут до начала. Я очень боялась, что он потечет от дождя.

We made the banner “Our rights are more important than your gas” together with the German organizations Quarteera and LSVD for the gay pride 2011 in Hamburg. We made it in 20 minutes and I was afraid that the words would leak in the rain.

It was a slogan for the IDAHO which says who discriminate between people dies of the burden

Here is some material produced by the Associazione Radicale Certi Diritti in 2012 to promote itself and its campaign. The postcards are part of a successful campaign that made MPs, VIPs and regular people undress in front of a camera. The body is were violations of rights are inscribed, that´s why we call the campaign “embody your rights”. The pins are slogan of our battles: “I´m a whore too” (in solidarity with sex workers) and others in English.

Daniel and I have a relationship of 11 years, we finally could get married on March 18th, 2011 (Buenos Aires, Argentina). This is the legal document that probes it.

Its about how we break the heteronormativity and how in the real life and how LGBT peoples get the freedom chose whomever or whatever we want to be, but homosexuality is still discriminated, that why we wear the ‘prisioner´s uniform.
Bisexuality some times a man is married to woman but he maintains relationship with other man without his wife’s or gf knowing.
Gay men often expect the ‘perfect’ angel, but the expectation is nothing more then just imagination.
the sexuality is so fluid, you can be whatever you want, to express you self. freedom to expression

This photo represents a 6-branch candlestick, it was a highlight of my year 2012, because it’s the emblem for the side of me that’s an activist for LGBT rights in Algeria.

In Algeria, October 10th was declared by a group of Algerian activists in 2007 as being the National Day for Algerian LGBTs, or as we like to call it “TenTen” in reference to the date on which it’s held (10 / 10).

TenTen is basically a symbolic act that which consists of lighting a candle at home at 8pm so that this flame may represent hope for a change for Algerian LGBTs who live under the threat of a penal law that criminalizes homosexuality and vows to imprison them.

All the candles lit at the same time not only represent the Algerian LGBT community members who stand together to assert themselves but also show to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals who still struggle with self-acceptance that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, because, in keeping with tradition, we post pictures of our lit candles on the Internet, especially on social networks.

In this year 2012, we celebrated the 6th edition of this day, and with the association in which I am a member, the Alouen Association, we designed our promotional poster and video around this picture : It’s a 6 candle candlestick, 6 candles that stand for the 6 colors in the rainbow flag and the 6th edition of our national day.

One of my precious tattoos (My design), the head part has the word Jasad in Arabic which means body. every tattoo i have embodies and tells a piece of my life’s story and struggle towards claiming my right to choose, to live and to be!! Naked of all masks hiding my real and true self and identity. My body is becoming the space where i can tell my story that goes with me wherever i walk in all times. Seeing these symbols and signs of my history grants me hope and power to continue my struggle, because every time i see them I realize I survived it all. My “Jasad-body” will reveal my history and struggle towards freedom and right to be the person i wish and want to be.

In 1994, Singapore´s first gay novel was published. It was “Peculiar Chris” by Johann S. Lee.

In 2007, the novel was turned into a play: “Asian Boys Volume 3: Happy Endings” by Alfian bin Sa´at, produced by W!ld Rice. This was one of the production T-shirts.

At the same time it was being performed, the actor and gay activist Sir Ian McKellen was performing King Lear in Singapore. I interviewed him for my media organisation, Fridae. He took time to come for a performance of “Asian Boys” – and by coincidence, the day he came was the 30th birthday of Alfian, the playwright.

Sir Ian also received one of these T-shirts as a thank-you gift. He wore it at later press conferences and also went dancing in it at one of Singapore’s clubs, St James Powerhouse. He also recorded a video in support of Singapore´s LGBT movement.

Finally, any one can pie standing!

La puesta en escena de la Obra de teatro Trans, Memorias de Khaterine, una adaptacion de Emilio Carballido, refleja la historia de una travesti que cansada de su periodo de gloria, cansada y mayor de edad, decide contar sus memorias, y retrocede en el tiempo y relata sus vivencias, amores, rupturas, suenos, deseos.

Our mission is to document queer culture in all its aspects in order to raise public awareness on LGBT matters. As queer issues are at the forefront of social debate in China’s present-day society, we believe that the need for information about LGBT and sexual health issues will continue to grow during the coming years.

We aim to inform both the LGBT and the non-LGBT members of Chinese society in a relaxed and unrestrained way on the various aspects of queer culture, by sending out empowering images of queer life .

Our main medium is a 3-monthly online show which discusses the dynamic characteristics of China’s burgeoning queer culture and the newest developments in the global gay movement. Another important medium consists of online video news items which cover important Chinese and foreign queer information and events.

We strive to provide well-researched, informative, entertaining and positive insights into queer culture. We do not spend time justifying homosexuality, but instead we choose to increase the visibility of the LGBT community and appreciate its intricacies in-and outside of China. We strive to strengthen our position as an audiovisual information and support centre for the LGBT-community.

We record and promote important queer events organized by LGBT organizations in order to expand our archive of LGBT-related footage and create a visual memory of all things queer in China. This archive is open to researchers and LGBT organizations for educational and training purposes Moreover, we want to support other members of the media (including members of the mainstream media) in their efforts to cover queer topics by promoting a well-informed and respectful approach.

We strive towards becoming self-sufficient in our efforts to raise awareness and support the LGBT movement in China. We increasingly will engage the support of commercial businesses who want to attract LGBT-friendly customers in order to create an income which will allow us to expand our LGBT activities in China.

Queer Comrades started its show in April 2007 under the English name “Queer As Folk Beijing” – a name it changed in April 2009 when the show started its third season of online broadcasting.

Es la presentacion del colectivo que trabaja con el transformismo como arte, para realizar activismo politico y cultural.

Imagine this guy was born female, but now called Sir on the streets of Kampala and the rest..

For many of us under estimate the power of God and knowing his image is more broader than what we are..

What a challenger he his..

This key i forgot to submit it when i checked out of the Flame lily lodge in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
I was my third time using the same room and on the last occasion i accidentally took this key with me.

This room holds many memories for me.
I then realised that probably my forgetting the key was not a mistake.

I took all the momories with me and this includes this key which opened the door to my happiness.

Now i want to share it with the museum, because as a Trans person living in a hostile environment, i can use this key to open doors of opportunity and know that my happiness depends on me.

Yogyakarta Principles are the principles related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity rights which was developed on 2006 by human rights and law experts gathered in Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta Indonesia to respond any forms of violence reported from all over the world. Institut Pelangi Perempuan (Indonesian Young Queer Women Organization) published the Yogyakarta Principles comic in order to create youth friendly media and easier understanding of the principles for the LGBT Youth. The comic is based on some true stories of young queer women in Indonesia and we relate it to the principles. It was published on 2010 in Bahasa Indonesia and 2011 in English and then LGBT organizations in Belgium on 2012 translated the comic into the Dutch and French, there were some international respond to translate the comic into their own language to use the comic for their community.

Even though the Singapore government censors a lot of gay themes in the arts, there are still many gay writers in Singapore. (My poetry collection “last boy” has major gay themes, but it still won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2006.)

The first time we held IndigNation, our queer cultural festival in 2006, we organised a queer literary reading called ContraDiction. I was a performer then; every year since that I have been a curator and organiser.

My friends and I decided to create a collection of writing by Singapore’s LGBT writing. We decided to include writing in all our national languages. So, in “GASPP: a Gay Anthology of Singapore Poetry and Prose”, we have poems, fiction and non-fiction in English, Chinese and Malay.

The book was not banned. Instead, the government told all the major bookstores that it was investigating the book. This meant they were afraid to carry the book on their shelves, so we didn’t sell so many copies. Now, the ban seems to be lifted, and our print run has sold out.

Symbolizing Iraninan LGBT spirit,
place and power to be here in ILGA

This is the first manual of self-defense produced by transexual people part of the Collective of Transvestite Radicals affiliated to the Radical Party in Italy.

The silver ring is for when we got married with our friends as witness (1999), and the golden one is for when we got married legally with our kids and grandchildren as witnesses (2010).

In New Zeeland Kiwi’s are usually born brown or black in color. But every so often a white kiwi is born. Maori people consider these birds a treasure BECAUSE they are different. I thought it a suitable symbol to bring here, as the first person from NZ to talk about difference as an interest person – thank you

This is a pin with all the colors of our identity (rainbow & pink triangle) and with the hand doing V of Victory. But in Argentina, the hand means Viva Peron, a political movement that is important to the rights of the women and, in the last years, the LGTBIQ rights, we have Same Sex Marriage and a very avant garde Gender Identity Law, the best around the world. That´s why I pin my meet with that badge.

Our brochure tells some stories of people of faith – and their journey together. From a small idea the group has grown to over 40 member Groups from more than 20 countries around Europe.

Two manual on AIDS and family matters

I like to see the funny side of serious things. I laughed out loud when I found this T-shirt… I used to wear it at work , surrounded mostly by male electricians. Those who “got it” used to smile. Or back off. Or start shouting about me coming out of the wardrobe…
I used to feel a bit more like me when I wore it ‘cos I didn’t really like it there…

Den här amuletten fick jag av en serbisk vän som köpte den till mig och min fru på Museum of Macedonia, det är en replik av ett föremål i deras sammlingar.
Vi var i Skopie ,och arbetade med utställningen Article one, och vår vän letade i mueets shop efter en bra present. Personalen började engagera sig och ansåg att Herm (son till Hemes och Afrodite) skulle vara en perfekt gåva.
En nymf blev förälskad i den vackra ynglingen Herm och ville förenas med honom. Nymfen bad gudarna om hjälp blev bönhörd…… så deras kroppar blev förevigt förenade till en ”varelse” som förenade den manliga styrkan och den kvinnliga skönheten..

Я впервые встретил лгбт активистов в Кофехаузе на Лиговском. С тех пор я провел там много часов.
This is a flyer from a coffeshop. I met LGBT activists for the first time in the Coffehouse on Ligovsky prospect.
Reason for adding:Since then I’ve spent many hours there.

Однажды ко мне приехала женщина, которая мне сильно нравилась. Это был волнующий визит, мы говорили всю ночь, и у нас завязалось что-то вроде романа. Наутро ко мне без звонка заехал после очередного путешествия мой старый одноклассник. Мы сидели втроем на кухне, и постепенно, к моему удивлению, эта женщина полностью переключилась на него. Они стали встречаться, а я продолжила с ней дружеские отношения. Недавно она передарила мне его подарок: духи Chanel Chance принадлежали его покойной матери, о которой он много рассказывал мне еще в школе. В духах она не понимает, вот и отдала мне их, ну, а я знаю кое-что и о духах, и об утрате доверия, и о бессмысленных иллюзиях сближения между людьми.

Once a woman I really liked came to visit me. It was an exciting event, we talked all night, and something like a romance started between us. The next morning my old schoolmate unexpectedly came. When we all were sitting in the kitchen, the woman, to my surprise, switched to him. They started dating, and I kept friendly relations with her. She recently presented me with a gift that she got from him: the perfume Chanel Chance belonged to his mother, who assed away. She does not care about parfumes, that’s why she gave it to me, well, I know more about perfumes, and about loss of trust, and about senseless illusions of intimacy between people.

I wrote these lines somewhere around 1979–1980, when I was 16–17 or so, to a girl that I so much wanted to be mine. We were a group of girls who always hung out together in high school, but I wanted this girl in particular all to myself. I felt that the other girls were in the way all the time and took far too much of her attention. I could just imagine how they pulled her farther and farther away from me. With time I became so jealous and desperate that I went so far as to write her a poem, which I discreetly handed over to her at one point. Never before or since I have done anything as silly, but my only excuse is that necessity knows no law.

A few days later some of our mutual friends suddenly turned up and waved my poem threateningly in my face. Their accusation came in angry voices: “It’s a love poem, you’ve written her a love poem!” At that time in northern Sweden it was obviously “forbidden” for a girl to write a love poem to another girl. Indeed the general atmosphere was upset and it seemed as if I was guilty of some sort of “terrible crime”. So “terrible” in fact that it was impossible even to speak about it and it became something unmentionable. I would never have guessed, what an effective “intimidation-potential” I have always possessed? Their reactions seemed exaggerated to me, but at the same time I have to admit that I sure didn’t laugh my head off, after all I found myself in a tricky situation. From then on my friends and the girl in question avoided me, and I myself pretended that nothing had happened, which was a sort of tradition of self-preservation and self-protection I guess. As a diversion I tried my best to look like something from the movie Taxi Driver: “You talkin’ to me, you talkin’ to me?” Well to be honest it may not seem in retrospect to have been the best way of dealing with the situation. Eventually we all moved to Stockholm and they went on hanging out with each other, but their disapproval of me seemed to survive almost anything? To tell you the truth, at this point I would say that it was mutual: I never really made any effort to get in touch with them either. I have no contact with any of them today – a common fate anyhow when you outgrow each other for whatever reason – except for the very object of my former jealousy. She and I really have nothing in common any more, if we ever had. However, now and then, every two years or so, I get in touch with her just to see how she is doing. I guess it is just one of those old habits that you continue doing but which no longer serves any actual purpose.

Я считаю, что очень важно, когда за права лгбт высказываются известные люди. Я вкладываю много сил, чтобы найти этих людей и убедить их выступать в защиту меньшинств.

: I think that it’s very important that celebrities speak for the gay rights. I give my all to find these celebrities and to make them stand for the LGBT minority.

Simple and discrete symbol of my boyfriend and I getting married – not only same sex but also from very different parts of the world and very different cultures. Love makes everything possible.

Fotot är ett av ett sextiotal bilder som Stockholmspolisen fann hemma hos Carl von Platen år 1903, och som idag finns i Polismuseets samlingar. Anledningen till beslaget var att man med dåtidens ögon ansåg att bilderna var ett uttryck för homosexuella handlingar, vilka var förbjudna vid denna tid. Ser man fler av dessa beslagtagna fotografier ger de flera olika aspekter om samhället kring sekelskiftet 1900.

Я проводил семинар по безопасному сексу для геев в 2008 году и понял, как же мало среди геев осознанности, тогда я решил, что надо что-то менять.
I made a seminar on safe sex for gay men in 2008 and understood how little gay men reflected about their lives. So I decided that it needed to be changed.
Reason for adding:It is a symbol for this seminar on safe sex.

Этого Муми-тролля я сделала для своей девушки, когда ждала её возвращения с учёбы в другой стране. Он все же остался жить у меня, потому что она, увидев его, спросила: “А почему рамка черная?” Я специально дня два ходила выбирала рамки под цвет мебели в ее квартире, на что она ответила : “В нашем доме мебели такого цвета не будет!” Это было важнее чем какая-то рамка

I made this Moomin picture for my girlfriend while I was waiting for her from her studies abroad. But it stayed with me because when she saw it she asked: “Why is the frame black?” I was looking for the frame to match the picture with the furniture in her house. She said: “We won’t have the furniture of such color in our house!” This was much more important than the frame.

На этой подушке в комьюнити центре “Выхода” я сплю, когда очень устаю. Кроме меня на ней спят еще многие уставшие активисты.

I sleep on this heart-shaped cushion in the LGBT community center when I get tired. Many activists sleep on it, too.

Это ручка… я лгбт- активистка, я отдаю этому все свое время, ручка – часть моей лгбт-истории. Я сплю с ней

This is a pen. I’m an LGBT activist and I give all my strengths and time to it.

Пусть танго я танцевать так и не научилась, но зато, неуклюже пригласив на танец девушку, я встретила свою любовь.

These are my tango shoes. I did not learn how to dance tango, but I danced with a girl, and that’s how I met my love.

This is the picture that was later made into a badge and patch to apply on your favorit jacket, skirt or pull-over. It was designed by Finsta Graphics

Research materials for the film Companions – Tales from the Closet

A film by: Cecilia Neant-Falk and Nina Bergström

In this film about homosexual love, we meet five women in their 70s who talk about their lives from the 1930s to the present day. With humor and feeling they tell us about their budding love affairs and encounters with women, but also about self-loathing and clandestine relationships. They have all had to face their own fear about being different and risked losing friends, relatives and colleagues for something that is important and beautiful for them, but ugly and strange to others.

Reason for adding:My motivation has always been to tell lesbian and transgender history.

Flyer 115 × 150 mm

Dykeeye, Did curiosity really kill the cat? Queer and Feminist video festival 1998 and 1999
arranged by Katarina Johansson and Cecilia Neant Falk

2003-2005 höll vi litterär salong på kafé Copacabana i Stockholm. Första lördagen varje månad körde vi ett queerfeministiskt kulturellt program tillsammans med en specialmeny från köket. Vi tryckte upp snygga program och biljetter och salongen blev snabbt en succé som pågick i två år. Den fyllde ett tomrum i Stockholm där många queerfeminister av olika kön kände sig hemlösa. Efter några år kontaktade vi alla medverkande och bad om bidrag till en bok: Salongsberusat (utkom 2011). Vi hade ett fantastiskt releaseparty i samband med Pride 2011 med författarläsningar av Sara Stridsberg, Beate Grimsrud och Evy Lewén på Copa och Bio Rio. Då visades även filmer av Anna Linder och Maja Borg och en fotoutställning av Casia Bromberg.

Ett konstprojekt work-in-progress av Cecilia Neant Falk

När jag var 8 år visste jag förstås inte vem jag var; men en dag blev jag häftigt förälskad i en jämnårig kille, en klasskamrat. En dag under en rast kysste jag honom häftigt på ena kinden. Han blev förskräckt och ryggade. Jag kunde aldrig glömma honom och under fortsättningen av mitt liv har jag sökt efter samma känslomässiga upplevelse. Den lilla tändsticksaskbilen som jag gjorde vid denna olyckliga tid symboliserar för mig en tung ensamhet och nedstämdhet. Jag gav den “registreringsnummer” 13. Det gick sedan flera år till dess min kärlek fann ett namn. Det var gay.

Guldbaggen komisk, tragisk, bisarr, praktfull-som filmens konstrika värld. Dess skimrande flykt-den löpande filmremsan. 2003 års guldbagge har av Svenska Filminstitutet tilldelats: Du ska se att det går över- bästa dokumentärfilm. Regi: Cecilia Neant-Falk.
Distrubition: Folkets Bio
www.neantfalk.wordpress.com

Två saker jag vill reklamera/lämna tillbaka men tidigare inte hittat något bra forum för. Tills nu. Jag tänkte att “Unstraight” är en bättre kontext för min aldrig öppnade konfirmationsbibel och en kukring som visade sig vara lite för stor.

Kombucha började framställas redan 220 f.Kr i Kina och kallades då för Livets Elixir. Tillverkas på ungefär samma sätt som öl och vin genom jäsning (fermentering). En kultur av mjölksyrabakterier placeras i ekologiskt te och under processen bildas bland annat antioxidanter, organiska syror, enzymer och b-vitaminer.

1985 i arrived in N.Y.C a lesbian of 21. Liberating and open to all new friends i walked in the parade with my lover among lesbians!

1973 Rita Mae Brown published a book of poems. She writes, To the handsome Woman: Slip this book inside your blouse To lie against your heart In innocence.

For more than 40 years Lynne Hershman Leeson has documented women in the art world some of the groundbreaking figures in the feminist movement.

I början på 1980-talet fanns spänningar mellan lesbiska kvinnor i RFSL och lesbiska feminister från kvinnohuset i Stockholm. Det fanns historiska skäl som bottnade i att lesbiska tidigare brutit sig ur RFSL som då var mansdominerat. Men en ny generation lesbiska såg inte längre dessa motsättningar utan ville göra något tillsammans som bejakade lesbisk kultur och livsglädje i Norden. Vi skapade en arbetsgrupp på 13 kvinnor som ordnade en festival med workshops och kultur. Lesbiska kom från alla olika nordiska länder utom Island.

Den karnevalliknande demonstrationen var den första för endast lesbiska i Sverige – annars var frigörelsemarcherna som de hette på den tiden alltid blabdade med bögar, flator, bi:in och transpersoner.

This book is a result of one year research on history of homosexuality in Croatia conducted in 2007. THis was the first comprehensive research on history of homosexuality in Croatia. The book was published by Queer Zagreb.

“Hund med fitta / Dog with Cunt”

Konstverk av Linda Spåman
Utsmyckning från HBTQ-festivalens (Göteborg) Rainbow Party 2012.
Linda gav mig detta konstverk 2012 och det bor numera på vårt kontor i Stockholm.

The first queer fairytailes book published in Croatia by Queer Zagreb. The book was result of public competition for he best fairytales held in 2005 in Croatia.

Under Pride 2011 gav Transföreningen FPES mig (som socialstyrelsens representant) diplomet för mitt arbete med att få till stånd en utredning om frågorna kring vård och behandling och de rättsliga förutsättningarna för en ny juridisk fastställelse.

På NonGovermentOrganisations konferensområde utanför Peking 1995 stod även ett “lesbiska tält” – konstigt nog – fyllt med kinesiska män. Funderingar – hur kommer det sig att kinesiska män visar detta stora intresse? Någon svarade – är det inte hemliga polisen som vill skrämmas?

- Unstraight är framtiden. Jag hoppas ni vågar använda det, sa Ylva-Maria och lämnade en påse med verktyg för att göra avgjutning av damers genitalier
Vid invigningen av pridehouse i Stockholm på Pride 2012 får The Unstraight museum sin första donation från invigningstalaren Ylva- Maria Thompson. Två dagar senare är det ännu inte använt. Men vi får väl se. Framtiden är ju vår…

My Drag Queen Show, Skopje 2008
A part of my drag queen performances at the age of 23.

First time in public. The star of Marina. X’s red lipstick. What excitement. There is no narrative. One experience, two, three, five, ten.

This icon was a gift from my mother when I was 12. When in bed, it was impossible for me not to see it, because it was hanged above my head. Always, before having sex, I took it down and put it in the drawer, thinking that the protector from the icon does not want to see two men sharing intimacy…

She was my first non-platonic love, the greatest so far. On that trip she introduced me to her parents. I never told her how I was asphyxiating from the looks of random passengers on that train, each and every one of them convicting, making me feel naked, treacherous. She wouldn’t understand me anyway, she walked through life with far greater self-confidence than me. I could do nothing more than follow her. To the next country, the next city, far away from here.

Denna bild är tagen i Katarina Kyrkas bakre fönster. Vi hade en timma på oss innan en begravning skulle hållas. Det var Februari månad, det var kallt, stressigt, jag svettades som en gris dock men till slut såg jag detta fönster som en drömsk uppenbarelse. Tillsammans med mitt gudomligt duktiga team: Nina Belkhir & Sherin på Hår&MakeUp, samt den GALEt vackra Theres Alexandersson-som även vann årets modell på ELLE-galan i år, så kirrade vi det galant, om jag får säga det själv. Så på en timme i bitande kyla men med vackra omgivningar och bra, duktiga människor, som alla ställde upp 100% gratis för det välgörande ändamålets skull, så lyckades vi fånga dagen!

Minnen från ett annorlunda Pride firande än hemma, Boston 2004.
Inga staket, inga avstängda områden med inträde, i paraden gick inte HBTQ utan de var publiken…

First lesbian comics published in Croatia. By artist Helena Janečić.

Det är förfest hemma hos en supporter till svenska transklubben Transvestia. Snart fortsatte festen på en lokal hyrd av Holländska ambassaden. Festerna var mycket diskret arrangerade. Det här var den första och den största festen. Jag tror vi var 30 deltagare.

Det här är första gången jag ser en engelsk serie från BBC med en mustig tolkning av lesbiskt liv och leverne. Äntligen!
Den är gjord efter en bok av Sarah Waters. jag fick vänta till 2002 innan filmen kom.

This is the leaflet from the first Queer Zagreb festival hold in Zagreb, Croatia, 25-30 April 2003

This is the first page of the manuscript of radio show “Frigid socket” run in late 80s on Radio 101. This was the first radio show edited by Toni Marosevic

This posters presents a national campaign against homophobia conducted by Queer Zagreb festival in 2007. Campaign was targeting “homophobes” calling for major public to recognize homophobes as human beings who needs help to be cured.

In Jugoslavija, before Internet, gay man were making contacts through advertisements in newspapers. This private letter between to men was donate to Queer Zagreb within the research on oral history of homosexuality in Croatia.

The newspapers report from the first Jugoslavian cultural project on homosexuality called “Homosexuality and culture” from 1984 held in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Transvestije is the catalogue of the Croatia queer artists held within the second Queer Zagreb festival in Zagreb, Croatia 23.-30. 4. 2004.

This object was received during the creation of the book “Oral history of homosexuality in Croatia” and was given to us by Toni Marosevic. This is the first issue of Jugoslavija first gay magazine from 1985 published by Magnus – first Jugoslavian gay initiative

1967 äter svenska Klubb Transvestia middag med transor från Le Carroussel de Paris på hotell Strands restaurang i Stockholm. Det är den 19 maj och vårklänningarna glänser med franska finess. Till vänster på bilden sitter fransyskan Carole och till höger en medlem ur svenska Transvestia. Viva la trance!

Använda av fröken Vega i Dragshowgruppen Cabaret Moulin våren 2012. Essentiellt tillbehör för fantastiska ben på scen.

Trosor i guldlamé, klargul korselette, mellanröd korselette och en prickig behå. Detta är kvällens mode på klubb Transvestia en höstkväll 1967 i Stockholm. Svartvit bild men färgstarka minnen. Själv hade jag förstås vita bomullstrosor och underkjol. Lite präktigare.

This t-shirt was bought in London, in june 1994. It was part of my coming-out process. At the time I had only told a few friends I was gay, and spending a month in London gave me a great opportunity to try my new identity out. I had never had a boyfriend at the time, but I got the brilliant idea of buying this t-shirt for myself, and wearing it as a public statement. However I did only wear it in London, when i got back to Sweden it suddenly felt embarassing.

Underwear

My Drag Queen Show, Skopje 2008
A part of my drag queen performances at the age of 23.

Sweets
A Valentine’s Day gift that wasn’t meant to be

This wrapped gift is witness to the biggest disappointment in my life. The box contains Belgian chocolate bonbons – the favorite ones of the guy I was seeing. I met him 4 years ago, and recently we became even closer. Those were the best three weeks of my life! The beautiful SMS messages, minutes passed in waiting and sending off on bus stations, hugs and kisses in public which brought an unforeseen liberation of spirit…
All that was swallowed by the silence, that Saturday night, when we told me he was HIV positive. …
So, there it is – a Valentine’s gift that wasn’t meant to be.

The waiting seemed to be prolonged. He arrived late – I think it was past 10 o’clock in the evening. I came down to meet him in front of the clinic. He took a white basket with beautiful red roses out of the car. There were 27 of them, the same as my age.
We met the doctor while walking up the stairs, he smiled and asked her “How is S.?”
We entered the room and I told him to sit on the chair, while I sat on the edge of the bed. Even despite trying to look calm, horrible restlessness was eating me from the inside. I gave him a glass of water and I didn’t wait any longer…
“I had quite a disturbing day – various test, waiting for results and what not. But it was nothing compared with the two big shocks I experienced. The first one was that I am positive! … And the second – this was the moment I started to cry – is that I may have infected you too.”
Still unaware of I was talking about, he stood up and hugged me. I hugged him back, pressing my head on his stomach. He asked me what was I talking about.
“HIV! – I murmured, sobbing – When I found out about me, I didn’t cry at all… but when I faced the thought of you possibly being infected, I couldn’t recuperate any longer.”
In all that agony, I was amazed by the courage with which he faced the news. He came by next morning to give a blood sample for an HIV test. We saw each other shortly and we could only wait, hoping for the unlikely. He came back that afternoon and told me to go down to the day care centre. He appeared calm. “We’ll get treated together!” – he said, smiling. I couldn’t hold back the tears, the last tears shed for this experience.

Boots
First gift from a boyfriend. Bought in Berlin during the Love Parade 1999.

HIV treatment pills
latin name: remedia extraterrestrialia
July 15th, some years ago
When I was given the first two packs of therapy, only 17 days after finding out the diagnosis at the hospital, I was perplexed. It was difficult for me to believe that these were the medications intended for people with HIV. After a brief love experience, I was to take those medications every day, for the rest of my life. I was looking at them as if they were not of this world. I was reading the boxes the same way I read the package of a chocolate or whatever. The instructions seemed too long at that time, so I only read fractions of it. Such a long description seems to fit such a serious purpose – was how I thought then.
The names lamivudine and zidovudine reminded me of Africa, while efavirenz sounded more abstract.
I was warned that I might have a nightmare that first night. But on the contrary – the yellow pill caused one of the weirdest and most vivid dreams I have ever had.

This is my text on Lesbian history in Stockholm, Sweden 1943-1998. I´v been a part of lesbian and trans history since the begining of 1960. This text was my gift to the lesbian community at Gay pride in Stockholm 1998.

SthlmsLesbiskaHistoria

Membercard in “Stockholmsklubben Diana”. Diana was the lesbian and bisexualls club for women. The mens club was called Kretsen. 1972 the two clubs gets togheter and make klubb Timmy, for both women and men. Timmy becomes Stockholms part of national gay liberation assosciation, RFSL.

A picture of Party at club Blue Note, 1967, Stockholm, Sweden. This was one of many clubs that existed for a while in Stockholm in the late 1960´s. Diana Miller started it. She had a band that often played at the club. This is a picture of me and my friends. I wear my pearls. This might be the last night at Blue Note club.

I wrote a long letter to Jerry, who was a very butch and started Jerrys lady Club (Jerrys damklubbar) 1969, stockholm, Sweden. And Jerry welcomed me as a trans person to the club. And I felt like coming home. Jerry become my new mother. The club gave dances and we had a jukebox where women got a chans to get close to the sound of ”Je t´aime”.

Swedens first trans club, Transvestia. It was a place for transvestites and transsexuals. But it became a hotspot for, drag queens, lesbians, queers, bisexuals and just about anyone with a open mind. The picture is from a private party whit members of Transvestia.

My story is that I have been on female hormones since 1966. In the beginning I had to get them on the black market. I´m 79 now and gets it from my doctor. Time has changed.

I got this nice and personal memory of an lesbian artist I know. It´s her own. And in the box you see instruction on how to place them on the wall.

Political badges from Stockholm, Sweden. Mostly from 1970-1980. Used by feminists and lesbians.

Shocking show “Oliver Mandich in the Night”. The first transvestite I have ever seen. I was in the 8th grade. 1981. I had to buy the album immediately.

These wonderful figures was special made to picture the married couple and did it so well – especially when they started to melt a little and thereby suddently became “a live” and even cuter and more funny than they already were!

This is an early lesbian organisation in Stockholm and the door to the basement where we had our meetings. About 80 women came to the meetings. We rented it undercover. We couldn´t tell the landlord who really used the room. It was extremly har to find for new women…