Over the past decades, the possibilities for LGBTQ+ lives have undergone profound transformations across cultural, social, and political domains. Parallel to developments of LGBTQ+ rights, there is also an increase of anti-LGBTQ politics, closely tied to political violence and de-democratization. These changes are deeply impacted by specific national and regional contexts.
This project aims to explore queer political histories and changes over time in Croatia, Romania and Sweden through life story interviews with older (50+) queer people and intergenerational workshops within each context. Thus, political history and social, political, economical, legal and cultural changes in each context and their impact for queer lives will be traced through personal experiences of queer people from different generations with a specific focus on older LGBTQ+ people. Meanings of age, ageing and generational belonging will also be explored.
The varying contexts of Croatia, Romania, and Sweden reflect their distinct histories, shaped by socialism (in the form of social democracy, state socialism and post-communism), religion (orthodox, catholic, secular/protestant), dictatorship alongside their relationships with EU membership and democratic development. These divergent histories reveal how local and transnational forces uniquely shape the politics and possibilities of queer lives. The project is unique and makes up an important empirical and theoretical contribution.