Strategies of Inclusion and Shifting Attitudes Towards Visibility in the Gay, Lesbian, and Queer Discourse in the Czech Republic after 1989
Abstract
The ever-present naturalized homophobic structures (itself a legacy of communism) in the post-socialist Czech Republic have prevented LGBTIQ people and activists from usefully articulating a common "queer" identity, which could effectively strive for recognition of gender/sexual heterogeneity of Czech society as a positive, healthy aspect of the country's post-1989 development. Instead, since 1989 the dominant homophobic discourse has systematically urged, both directly and indirectly, LGBTIQ people to accept the binary terms of the debate and articulate their claims for recognition and equal rights in terms of sameness, quietness, inclusion, conformity and discipline.
The result has been a striking absence of radical LGBTIQ politics in the Czech Republic in exchange for compromised versions of political and civic acceptance. Dilemmas of visibility, as our paper argues, have played a crucial role in these ideological struggles.
We show that the long-term strategy of inclusion has necessitated what we call "voluntary invisibility" on the part of LGBTIQ activism and for years has framed and formed the self-definition and articulation of claims by LGBTIQ people. Even though the condescending acceptance and tolerance of "invisible difference" on the part of mainstream Czech society has gradually exposed the limits of such an approach, the overall LGBTIQ discourse in the Czech Republic has only been slowly freeing itself from the shackles of the "invisible" strategy.
However, as we argue, the newest developments in queer struggles in the Czech Republic suggest there is an important transformation underway, which involves a certain radicalization of Czech LGBTIQ activism through visibility.