10 ▼ a u g u s t 5 . 1«® 4 ▼ ju s t o u t
STRUCCLES IN A
W AR-TO RN W O RLD
Continued from previous page
raped. Most of the women who ended up in Belgrade
were from Serb nationalists, and they were raped
by Muslim or Croat soldiers.
"Any soldiers would come back and rape their
own women. Husbands do that anyway. In war
they resolve conflict with violence, so when they
come back home they just go on with that.”
Lepa said she is doing this work because she is
a woman who loves women.
“Nobody wants to identify as lesbians, so we
have lesbians as part of the Arkadia group. It is
difficult, but it has not yet been dangerous for me
to be a lesbian. When I came out there were books
and some people in other countries coming out, so
it helped to know. Coming out has different stages.
There are other lesbians who are out in the women’s
group. But they are not out in the family or any­
where else, because they are scared for their job or
family.
"I have been to the U.S. before, too. I saw the
way things are here. It helps a lot. I would just
support everybody to come out wherever they are,
in whichever country they are. I think that is an
important thing for all of us. We should really
support each other in coming out. People are so
scared because hatred is so awful, and they really
don’t want to go through that.
"I think that those small consciousness-raising
groups in America that happened 10 or 20 years
ago were very important, and is how women be­
come feminist.”
I asked Lepa if the war is ending.
“We hope it is calming down now, a little bit at
least. The nationalist people cannot be tired of the
hatred because the media and the dominant politics
just feed you on that hatred all the time, so that can
go on as long as the dominant policy is hatred.
“Women have more dilemma, between being
mothers and having their sons in a situation to die
in the war, and so some of them have this contra­
diction between faith to the nation and love to their
children.”
I asked why the government created this hatred
and this war. Was it for money?
“It’s not money, it’s power.”
“Power—over people?”
Lepa sighed and said wearily, “Power. I will
never understand it, but I don’t think it’s money.
Everybody is 10 times poorer now. It doesn’t seem
that we will be richer in the next 20 years, so it’s
some strange thing about having more territory. I
don’t understand that, but there’s been war for
2,000 years all around that. It’s nothing new. The
territory, the vengeance, the pride system which
operates the production of hate, and so power—it
is nothing new. We all come from the same soil
which is heterosexual and nationalist and patriar­
chal.
“Communist ideology suppressed religion. My
generation did not care about religion at all. It is not
a religious war. Yugoslavia under Tito had 22
different nationalities, ethnic origins, so it was
clear the only way the country would survive is to
have this policy of brotherhood and unity. Then all
of a sudden, in a couple of days, it became against
the policy.”
“Is there anything people can do here to help the
situation of gay men and lesbians in your coun­
try?” I asked.
“Instead of supporting us, it is better to support
themselves—especially lesbians.”
Lepa is planning to write a book about Yugo­
slavian lesbians. The following is a translated
excerpt from her work:
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Lepa Mladjenovic
paper names me “a traitor o f the Serbian nation ”
it hits the hidden smile in me.
Where I come from is not the nation I was born
in, but the lost lesbian country / never had and
somehow still manage to create. So, if they cannot
insult me on the national basis, they certainly can
insult me as a woman and lesbian. And they do...
But lesbians will remember, and I know there
were lesbians living in the wartime before me.
Most o f them did not leave me their guidelines.
Women who loved women in my town a long time
ago did not save any traces o f their voices. So,
sometimes, in the moments o f weakness, 1 read
Audre Lorde in her "Litany fo r Survival, ” or I
remind myself that “There must be those among
whom we can sit down and weep and still be
counted as warriors, ” (Adrienne Rich). Many les­
bians,feminists and pacifistsfrom this country and
other countries have
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supported us, sent let-
W6 Should
the African National Congress. It is the first consti­
tution in the world to specifically ban anti-queer
discrimination.
Current projects include pursuing an HIV edu­
cation project in the townships, seeking funding
for literacy education, producing video documen­
taries about transvestites and sexual minorities in
South Africa, and providing support and a safe
haven for lesbians and gay men.
Right wing Christians and Muslims and the
African Christian Party (believed to be sponsored
by far right organizations in the United States) are
fighting to remove the sexual orientation clause
from the Bill of Rights.
Drag queen Bassie Nelson, Theresa Raizenberg,
and two other members of ABIGALElive together
in the house that functions as ABIGALE’s center.
I heard the homey whistle of the tea kettle and a
clatter of cups as they
really SUppOTt
gathered around the
ters, books and journals eacfl other itl COming OUt. People ^
dunng my tele_
and words o f love. Then,
°
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phone conversation
when it all arrives, we are SO Scared because hatred is
with Bassie and
sit in my kitchen, which
Theresa. There was
so awful, and they really don *t casual conversation in
we call Free Lesbian
Republic, we look in
the mother tongue,
want to go through that. ”
awe at the beautiful
Afrikaans.
books and papers, we eat macaroni, and some o f us
Bassie told me that Capetown is a queer city.
dance. And we still dream how to announce the
Gay men are accepted in the townships (poor
codes o f the Kitchen Republic into the streets.
communities), so it is relatively easy for them to
come out. ABIGALE’s active participants consist
BIG ALE, the Association of Bisexuals, Gays
o f270 men and 35 women. There are 500 members
including closeted queers. Theresa talked with me
and Lesbians, is a primarily black working-
about the situation for lesbians.
class organization, formed in 1992 in
Capetown, South Africa. Its strategy is direct ac­
“It is very difficult for women to come out as
tion. Its work is prolific. It organized the first gay
lesbians. We had two cases in ABIGALE. They
and lesbian pride march in Capetown in December
told one woman she was a witch, and they wanted
1993. It recently sponsored the first lesbian, gay
to bum her. The community found out she was
and bisexual film festival in South Africa, held in
living with another woman, and they wanted to
June and July of 1994. It worked successfully in
crucify her. This guy in the township, that helped
coalition with the Organization of Lesbian and
us to get people in to do workshops around gays
Gay Activists to include a ban on discrimination on
and lesbians, rescued her and took her to a safe
place.
the basis of sexual orientation in the Bill of Rights
of the new South African Constitution, written b/,f
“The people in the township found out that two
A
In front o f refugee women I become the witness
o f their tragedy. I listen to their stories o f lost
children and lost lives...
But I am not a war survivor, I am not a refugee,
I am not a Serbian mother. The city I live in was not
ruined. I am not identified with the regime, nor
vyith the nation I come from. When the regime's
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women are lesbians and said they must move out of
the township.
“I knew I was a lesbian at a very early age, but,
because of my mom and family, I only came out
about three years ago when I started working in
ABIGALE. My mom brought the police for me. I
told her, ‘This is not going to change me. I am not
scared of the police.’ My lover is from the Muslim
community. Her family cut her off. They don’t
accept her, and they don’t want her to be part of the
family.
“Gay men who come out will probably start
dragging—wearing women’s clothes—because the
community accepts it. The women are not out, so
we have so few of them in ABIGALE.
“One colored [mixed racial ancestry] lady was
married, then she found out she is a lesbian. She is
living with a woman now for 17 years. If I go and
visit there, then I can’t hug and kiss my lover. I
might make a mistake and then it’s going to cause
a whole drama, and I don’t want that to interfere
with their lives. I told them if you want to visit then
'ou come visit me here, because we’re more open
here.
“At the film festival I saw a lot of lesbians. One
show was about 500 lesbians. But they’re very
closeted. Lesbians do clash—they don’t see the
same point of view, or they don’t want to mix with
this group or that group. I will go into that this year
and see what do they really want.
“We did try to start a lesbian caucus separate
from the men, because I felt that some women
don ’ t want to interact with men or they feel they are
dominated by men and they don’t want to open
their mouth. What can I offer them? I don’t know
what they want. I know what I want.
“The gay men from the townships come to us
and say, ‘I’ve got this plan. Can your committees
work on it and help us?’ and then we do. But, for
example in the health forum, there is nothing for
lesbians.
“Lesbians are a bit distant. I think it’s because
of society, because as soon as people they work
with find out they are lesbian then they withdraw
from them, and then they feel like an outcast, you
see. An example was my lover who worked in an
office. Then she changed her job. Now she is
working for a health clinic, and there she is more
accepted. The people like her there, so she is
happier because she can be herself.
“I was teaching children Sunday School and
first aid to the street kids within the church. I
couldn’t come out then because I wouldn’t be
allowed to teach the children.
“My mother doesn’t accept it. I need to work on
that, because I feel like everything I do or say or
involve in my life— I want her to know about it.
I’m still working on that. It’s going to go slowly,
but I will get there.
“At the film festival, the Muslims and Chris­
tians were picketing. The police escorted the gay
marchers at our march to make sure we followed
all rules to the letter. If you have a permit from 12
to 2 o ’clock, there are three police cars there at 2
o’clock to make sure you leave.
“Lesbians are afraid to come out because of the
police and their families, their jobs, and many
would fear for their lives because of people want­
ing to bum them or kill them or crucify them.
I asked Theresa, “Would people really do that?”
“Yeah, they will. But the information gets to
ABIGALE, and if we approach it with our organi­
zation, we don’t go one by one. Then we have the
support of some straight people within the commu­
nity, so we have workshops with the ANC, and it
makes our position stronger to deal with these
situations.”
“Why is it that gay men are accepted but not
lesbians?”
“I think it’s more for the fun. The colored drag
queens, in Capetown, you will enjoy yourself with
them. It’s more entertaining because someone will
chat up with you, they do something with style, and
then we have this gay language, the ‘gayla’ lan­
guage. If there are two drag queens together they
will ‘gayle,** and then the straight people don’t*