Austrian lesbian and gay forum

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Austrian Lesbian and Gay Forum (ÖLSF) was a major driving force behind the lesbian and gay movement in Austria in the 1990s and founded the Rainbow Parade in Vienna in 1996 . The name denotes on the one hand an annual meeting of activists, on the other hand the umbrella organization founded in February 1995 , which silently ceased its activities around 1999/2000.

Activist meeting

The lesbian and gay forums organized throughout Germany contributed significantly to the development of a combative and self-confident identity of lesbians, gays and, from 1995, transgender people in Austria. The organizers were - if available - one or more local organizations.

The Lesbian and Gay Forum cultivated the political and cultural discourse on the one hand, but were on the other hand also open to hedonistic workshops and events - like " Dildo tinkering " darkrooms for lesbian, Hermes Phettbergs performance in a public restroom , midnight readings and dance performances. At almost every lesbian and gay forum, major resolutions were discussed and voted on, which shaped the political approach of the Austrian associations, including the legal resolution in 1994 and the TransGender resolution in 1996 . The 1994 highly controversial resolution to abolish the sexes failed to find a majority.

Umbrella organization

In 1994, in the final plenum of the lesbian and gay forum in Vienna, it was decided to institutionalize it as an association. Hedwig Pepelnik-Gründler and Christian Michelides were elected as founding chairmen on February 4, 1995 - the official date of creation - in Graz , Waltraud Riegler from HOSI Vienna and Gernot Wartner from HOSI Linz as deputies . In the following two years, the ÖLSF had with extensive public relations and many activities his heyday , u. a. 1995 with the International Human Rights Tribunal against the Republic of Austria and with the appeal to reason in the Palais Auersperg , which paved the way for Ulrike Lunacek into politics. In 1996 it was the foundation of the Rainbow Parade , the first blessing of a lesbian couple in Austria and the Dornbirn Forum, which was held despite resistance from the local mayor , the vicar general at the time and a large part of the population of Vorarlberg . Over 300 published letters to the editor and nine front pages in the Vorarlberg media testify to the enormous media response. A Viennese reading of Vorarlberg's letters to the editor in the Republican Club - with Klara Motter , Terezija Stoisits , Günter Tolar and others - caused additional excitement in the "Ländle". Due to numerous inquiries from the community, the ÖLSF opened a blessing hotline in the summer of 1996 , which promised couples willing to bless a priest of the corresponding denomination .

In 1995, the ÖLSF succeeded as the first lesbian and gay institution in Austria to motivate well-known political officials to appear at its events. The International Human Rights Tribunal was entitled 50 Years of the Second Republic - 50 Years of Persecution of Lesbians and Gays . The human rights activists Freda Meissner-Blau and Gerhard Oberschlick held the chair. The sub-senates, made up of prominent representatives of Austrian civil society, found the republic guilty of discrimination and unjustified persecution on all seven counts.

Ultimately, the repeal of the criminal law provisions of the association ban and the so-called advertising ban for homosexual topics (§§ 220 and 221 StGB) in autumn 1996 is based on the intensive lobbying work of the ÖLSF, which at that time supported the homosexual initiatives of Austria, the RosaLila panthers from Graz and his effectively motivated other member associations to cooperate. Stir the officially authorized provided human chain for human rights around the Parliament , entitled Equal rights for same love , during a committee meeting of the National Council took place on 10 October 1995th While several hundred ÖLSF members demonstrated outside, actively supported by Heaven Vienna under the direction of Holger Thor , inside two ÖLSF representatives answered the parliamentarians' questions.

When the general assembly of the ÖLSF in Klagenfurt came to a “putsch” at the beginning of 1997 among the individual members, who had the same voting rights as the clubs, the ÖSLF's ability to assert itself was extinguished. The HOSI Vienna , one of the main pillars of ÖLSF, then stepped out.

In 1997, the forum in St. Pölten caused a sensation again, as it was caught in the crossfire by Bishop Kurt Krenn and ultra-Catholic publicists, as well as by the Israelite religious community . In 1999 the élan of the "putschists" finally waned, the association silently ceased its activities. The last persons entered in the Central Register of Associations - Ulrike Lunacek as chairwoman, Diana Voigt (1950–2009) and Hannes Sulzenbacher as deputy chairwoman - were named to the association authority for the period from May 1999 to May 2000.

literature

  • Ulrike Repnik: The history of the lesbian and gay movement in Austria. Feminist Theory Series , Vol. 48, Milena, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-85286-136-5 .

References and comments

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ulrike Repnik: The history of the lesbian and gay movement in Austria , (Feminist Theory Volume 48), Milena, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-85286-136-5 .
  2. ↑ a b Austrian Lesbian and Gay Forum, ZVR number 207475547, date of creation February 4, 1995. Last reported term of office of the Board of Management from May 22, 1999 to May 21, 2000 with Ulrike Lunacek as Chair, Diana Voigt and Hannes Sulzenbacher as Deputy Chair. The ÖLSF has not yet been dissolved under association law (January 2015). See extract from the register of associations from the Central Register of Associations, most recently as of January 12, 2015.
  3. ^ Kurt Krickler : Initiative for CSD new: HOSI Vienna against commercial parade. | Bad experiences. In: LAMBDA-Nachrichten , edition 4/2010, p. 11, column 3f. Accessed January 12, 2015.
  4. ^ Farewells: Diana Voigt (1950–2009). Susanne Heinreich (1934-2009). In: STICHWORT newsletter , issue 29/2010, p. 13 (see index STICHWORT newsletter 1996–2016: Abschiede. ( Undated ), accessed on August 7, 2018.

Remarks

  1. ↑ The National Council members Hannes Jarolim ( SPÖ ), Doris Kammerlander ( The Greens ) and Volker Kier ( Liberal Forum ), as well as the State Parliament member Friedrun Huemer (The Greens) were represented at the Human Rights Tribunal . - At the appeal to reason, the Minister for Women Helga Konrad (SPÖ), the chairwoman of the Liberal Forum Heide Schmidt and the justice spokeswoman for the Greens Terezija Stoisits spoke . It was moderated by Ulrike Lunacek. - Keynote speaker at the Forum 1996 in Dornbirn, the club chairman of the Social Democratic Party in parliament, were Peter Kostelka , the chairwoman of the Greens , Madeleine Petrovic , and the chairwoman of the Liberal Forum, Heide Schmidt. The organizer of the form in Dornbirn was Wolfgang Marchl. In parliament there was also an exchange of views between ÖLSF functionaries and ÖVP MPs Gertrude Brinek and Franz Morak .
  2. ↑ At the time the tribunal was organized at the beginning of 1995, transgender people were neither conscious of nor represented on the board of the ÖLSF. Only a "complaint" on the part of the Forum TransGender in the person of Elisabeth Piesch resulted in an admission to the tribunal and a solidarity between the LesBiSchwulen and the TransGender movement and, as a result, a TG board seat in the ÖLSF.
  3. ↑ On days with plenary sessions, the so-called ban mile applies around Parliament . H. a strict ban on demonstrations and gatherings. However, this does not apply during committee meetings.
  4. ↑ This demonstration was of particular importance because an officially approved institution (ÖLSF), which was under the threat of punishment under Section 221 of the Criminal Code (prohibition of associations, imprisonment for up to six months), organized an officially approved demonstration (human chain for human rights), which was under threat of punishment from Section 220 of the Criminal Code (prohibition of advertising, imprisonment of up to six months). Nevertheless, there were no complaints against organizers or demonstrators.
  5. ↑ Christian Michelides and Waltraud Riegler from the ÖLSF acted as informants. The following experts also appeared: Manfred Ainedter, Max Friedrich , Helmut Graupner , Judith Hutterer, Kurt Lüthi , Manfred Nowak , Alfred Pritz , Brigitte Rollett , Hans Rotter , Wolfgang Thill. With the exception of Ainedter and Rollett, all respondents supported the abolition of the three criminal law paragraphs; see. Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee. Summary presentation. Hearing of experts on §§ 209, 220 and 221 StGB. Austrian Parliament , October 10, 1995, p. 1.