Abstract
This chapter looks at KvirA, a recently established non-heterosexual women’s group, to examine the extent to which lesbian voices are audible and lesbian women visible in Montenegro. We engage with the reasons for KvirA’s creation and discuss the key challenges its foundresses and activists face in their struggle for women’s sexual emancipation in a still highly patriarchal context. For the time being, none of our respondents feels ready to take the helm of the country’s nascent lesbian movement that still does not recognise the potential of feminism to help weaken rigid and deeply entrenched heteronormative regime. Our chapter draws attention to the ambivalences inbuilt in KvirA’s appropriation of the concept of “queer”, which serves the purpose of spreading its membership and protecting its activist from homophobic violence.
Translated by Marina Vuković and Jasna Bulatović.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bagić, A. (2004). Talking about ‘donors’: Women’s organising in post-Yugoslav countries. International Development Studies: Occasional Paper. Retrieved on September 1, 2017, from http://ojs.ruc.dk/index.php/ocpa/article/view/3885/2060.
Bilić, B. (2012). We were gasping for air: (Post-)Yugoslav anti-war activism and its legacy. Baden Baden: Nomos.
Bilić, B., & Dioli, I. (2016). Queer Beograd collective: Beyond single-issue activism in Serbia and the post-Yugoslav space. In B. Bilić & S. Kajinić (Ed.), Intersectionality and LGBT activist politics: Multiple others in Croatia and Serbia (str. 105–126). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bilić, B., & Janković, V. (2012). Resisting the evil: (Post-)Yugoslav anti-war contention. Baden Baden: Nomos.
Brković, Č., & Kalezić, D. (2016). Queering as Europeanisation, Europeanisation as queering. In B. Bilić (Ed.), LGBT activism and Europeanisation in the post-Yugoslav space: On the rainbow way to Europe (pp. 155–178). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Butler, J. (1991). Imitation and gender insubordination. In D. Fuss (Ed.), Inside/Out: Lesbian theories, gay theories (pp. 13–31). New York: Routledge.
Butterfield, N. (2016). Discontents of professionalisation: Sexual politics and activism in Croatia in the context of EU accession. In B. Bilić (Ed.), LGBT activism and Europeanisation in the post-Yugoslav space: On the rainbow way to Europe (pp. 25–58). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
CdM. (2015). Treći put: Zabranjena Povorka ponosa u Nikšiću. Retrieved on November 3, 2017, from www.cdm.me/drustvo/treci-put-zabranjena-povorka-ponosa-u-niksicu/.
Centar za građansko obrazovanje. (2016). Istraživanje javnog mnjenja o diskriminaciji. Retrieved on October 4, 2017. http://media.cgo-cce.org/2016/02/istra%C5%BEivanje-javnog-mnjenja.pdf.
European Commission. (2016). Montenegro 2016 report. Retrieved on October 20, 2017, from https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2016/20161109_report_montenegro.pdf.
Evropska komisija za borbu protiv netrpeljivost i rasizma-ECRI. (2017). Izvještaj o Crnoj Gori (peti ciklus procesa monitoringa). Retrieved on October 20, 2017, from www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/country-by-country/montenegro/MNE-CbC-V-2017–037-ENG.pdf.
Fuss, D. (1991). Inside/Out. In D. Fuss (Ed.), Inside/Out: Lesbian theories, gay theories (pp. 1–12). New York: Routledge.
Gorjanc Prelević, T. (2016). Pravo na mirno okupljanje: Kapitulacija države pred prijetnjama navijača u Nikšiću: Slučaj zabrane šetnje za prava LGBT osoba 2015.godine. In Z. Mršević et al. (Eds.), Bezbjednost i osnovna prava: Dimenzije i perspektive sigurnosti LGBT osoba (pp. 45–53). Podgorica: Savjet za građansku kontrolu rada policije, Ministarstvo za ljudska i manjinska prava, Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova.
ILGA-Europe. (2016). Annual review of the human rights situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people in Europe. Retrieved on November 8, 2017, from www.ilga-europe.org/sites/default/files/Attachments/annual_review_2017_online.pdf.
Kalezić, D. (2016). Zakon o registrovanom partnerstvu usvojiti što prije. Retrieved on December 5, 2017, from www.cdm.me/drustvo/kalezic-zakon-o-registrovanom-partnerstvu-usvojiti-sto-prije/.
Lang, S. (2013). NGOs, civil society, and the public sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ministarstvo javne uprave Crne Gore. (2017). Nacrt Strategije kreiranja podsticajnog okruženja za razvoj civilnog društva (2018–2020). Retrieved on September 4, 2017, from www.mju.gov.me.
Ministarstvo za ljudska i manjinska prava Crne Gore. (2017). Javni poziv za konsultovanje zainteresovane javnosti povodom izrade Akcionog plana za 2018 godinu za implementaciju Strategije za unaprjeđenje kvaliteta života LGBT osoba u Crnoj Gori 2013–2018. Retrieved on September 4, 2017, from www.minmanj.gov.me/vijesti/179038/Javni-poziv-za.html.
Paternotte, D. (2015). The NGOisation of LGBT activism: ILGA Europe and the Treaty of Amsterdam. Social Movement Studies, 15(4), 388–402.
Petričević, P. (2011). Potemkinova sela-neke posebnosti institucionalizacije studija roda u Crnoj Gori. ProFemina, special edition Winter/Spring, Belgrade.
Spivak, C. G. (1988). In other worlds: Essays in cultural politics. New York and London: Routledge.
Švab, A. (2016). Narratives of coming out to parents: Results of replicating a sociological study on the everyday life of gays and lesbians in Slovenia (2014–2015). Teorija in praksa, 53(6), 1344–1355.
TACSO Crna Gora. (2013). Izvještaj o analizi potreba za Crnu Goru. Podgorica: Kancelarija TACSO.
TACSO Crna Gora. (2016). Izvještaj o analizi potreba za Crnu Goru. Podgorica: Kancelarija TACSO.
Taylor, J. (2013). Civil society and the future work of social change. Retrieved on December 27, 2017, from https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net.
Unija poslodavaca Crne Gore. (2013). Procjena okruženja za žensko preduzetništvo u Crnoj Gori. Retrieved on December 6, 2017, from www.poslodavci.org/biblioteka/publikacije/procjena-okruzenja-za-zensko-preduzetnistvo-u-crnoj-gori.
Velat, D. (2015). Report on the economic value of the non-profit sector in the countries of Western Balkans and Turkey. Retrieved on December 27, 2017, from http://www.catalystbalkans.org/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vuković, M., Petričević, P. (2019). Searching for a Lesbian Voice: Non-Heterosexual Women’s Activism in Montenegro. In: Bilić, B., Radoman, M. (eds) Lesbian Activism in the (Post-)Yugoslav Space . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77754-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77754-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-77753-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-77754-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)