[Discussion] "Sexual Minorities: Pride and Exclusion"

[ONUR INAL]

21st April, 2005, Krakow, Poland


Academic Session: "Sexual Minorities: Pride and Exclusion" organized
in conjunction with the School of Management and Banking in Krakow


This year's festival "Culture for Tolerance" should be a sort of celebratio=
n, a space for joy and creativity which, created through our joint effort=
s, will serve as a response to overt homophobia and exclusion from the pu=
blic discourse. We would like, however to go even further and consider ex=
clusion in the framework of the queer discourse; to reach out to voices f=
or whom there traditionally has been no place. Apart from the rainbow fla=
g, the concept of gay pride that we have adapted to the Polish context, a=
s well as the name of the LGBT community itself =96 that is, lesbians, ga=
ys, bisexuals and
transgenders =96 but without full inclusion of the last two groups. What is=
 more, within this community, it is very easy to forget the experiences o=
f people, who belong at the same time to other minority groups =96 by vir=
tue of their physical disabilities, religions, ethnic
backgrounds or even their age. What, really, are we proud of =96and what sh=
ould we be proud of? What have we managed to accomplish and is there caus=
e for celebration? Which model of gay-lesbian visibility do we pass on in=
 this manner? In which direction do we go now?

Of special interest to us are the following areas:

- Reflection on the notion of gay pride

- The historiography of gay and lesbian marches

- The history of the LGBT movement in Poland

- Exclusion within the framework of queer discourse

- Experience of "minorities within minorities" =96 with respect to disabili=
ty, religion, ethnic background, age, etc.

- Bisexuality

- Transexuality and Transgenderism


Please send your abstracts to sesja_naukowa@yahoo.com, deadline 15th Februa=
ry 2005

Organizers:

Anna Gruszczynska, Jagiellonian University aniakg@elear.pl

Jacek Kochanowski, Ph.D., School of Management and Banking in Cracow, Insti=
tute of Sociology

Campaign Against Homophobia Cracow krakow@kampania.org.pl

Culture for Tolerance Festival ida@kampania.org.pl