Labris

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Labris uses organizing, coalition-building and community education to end violence and discrimination against lesbians, GBT people and other oppressed communities in Serbia.

Each day for the last year and a half, members of Labris have literally cut apart two of the most widely circulated papers in Serbia. They have done the same with the two largest weekly papers. Behind all of this cutting and clipping is a smart and strategic logic.

In October of 2005, defamatory statements about lesbians and gay men aired on Serbian commercial television: "They [gays and lesbians] have gone too far; just looking at them is disgusting." Months later, a high-ranking official of one of Serbia's political parties stated on the same program that homosexuality was a "social pathology" and "something essentially decadent."

Labris filed a complaint to the Republican Broadcasting Agency citing that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is banned under Article 21 of the Law on Broadcasting. And, it also started a methodical media monitoring project—clipping content relevant to the LGBT community and distributing it to gay and lesbian, human rights and women's rights NGO's, individuals and journalists throughout Serbia.

As the first lesbian organization formed in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Labris is committed to educating the public about the existence of the lesbian and gay community. In 2002, they collaborated with allies to create a month-long LGBT visibility campaign which aired on radio and television in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis. Recently, their analysis of seven Serbian print venues confirmed that articles on lesbian and gay rights are never published. Labris was invited to present these findings at a meeting of the Association of Independent Journalists of Vojvodina.

Labris' media activism extends beyond electronic venues. They have translated works by Joan Nestle, Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich and host lesbian feminist theatre and poetry evenings. Since acquiring their own office space, the group has expanded their library, which now holds 388 books, 505 magazines and 213 movie titles.

Labris' work is groundbreaking. They started Yugoslavia's first lesbian newspaper and first lesbian website. They have organized several annual Lesbian Weeks—gatherings of lesbians from the territories of the former Yugoslavia and have organized Yugoslavia's first Pride parade. The Labris Info-Center, a touchstone for the community, operates five
days a week.

In 2005, the Labris advocacy team requested that the Serbian Medical Association issue a public announcement stating that homosexuality was not a disease. You can count on Labris to broadcast—loudly and clearly—the Association's decision, once it is made.

www.labris.org.yu/en/index.php

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