Homophobia and Violence against Gays and Lesbians in Slovenia

The authors present and discuss empirical findings from various research projects on homophobic violence in Slovenia. Existing research on violence against gays and lesbians shows a high level of verbal, physical and sexual violence experienced by gays and lesbians and at the same time a low recognition of such violence in society. According to public opinion and the research results, Slovenia is still homophobic society. Violence is an all-pervading element of everyday life of gays and lesbians in Slovenia. More than half of respondents in the research on everyday life of gays and lesbians, for example, reported that they were at least once a victim of some form of violence due to sexual orientation. Most frequently homophobic violence happens in public space. For this reason, the first two parts of the paper discuss various forms of violence in school settings in particular, and in public space in general. In the third part of the paper, the authors discuss another form of violence, for which they argue to be the most problematic and probably the hardest to deal with. This is a socially hidden and invisible violence that arises from heteronormativity and the so-called heteronormative panopticon and which takes many forms, from constant fear of being “disclosed”, of being victim of violence, to selfviolence accompanied by internalised homophobia.