Lukasz Szulc is Marie Curie Individual Fellow in the Media and Communications Department of the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. He has published articles in journals such as Sexualities and contributed chapters to books such as Queer in Europe: Contemporary Case Studies (2011). He is co-editor of the book LGBTQs, Media and Culture in Europe (2017).

1 Introduction: A Sexual Cold War and Its Myths

1.1 Myths and No History

1.2 Unde Venis, CEE?

1.3 Book Structure

PART I: GLOBAL, EASTERN AND POLISH HOMOSEXUALS

2 Globalization of LGBT Identities and Politics

2.1 Global LGBT Identities

2.2 Global LGBT Politics

2.3 The Impact of HIV/AIDS

2.4 Postcolonial and Transnational Responses

2.5 The Forgotten Second World

2.6 Conclusion

3 Homosexuality in the Eastern Bloc

3.1 EEIP Reports

3.2 Communism as They Knew It

3.3 State Laws and Practices

3.4 Homosexuality in Public Discourses

3.5 Homosexual Self-Organizing

3.6 Conclusion

4 Homosexual Activism in Communist Poland

4.1 The State, Opposition and Church

4.2 Homosexuality before 1980

4.3 Early 1980s: Transnational Origins

4.4 Mid 1980s: Operation Hyacinth

4.5 Late 1980s: Demands for Recognition

4.6 Conclusion

PART II: TRANSNATIONALISM IN GAY AND LESBIAN MAGAZINES

5 Polish Gay and Lesbian Magazines<

5.1 Alternative Media and Social Movements

5.2 Transnational Network of Gay and Lesbian Magazines

5.3 Publishing Underground in Communist Poland

5.4 Biuletyn/Etap Magazine

5.5 Filo Magazine

5.6 Conclusion

6 (Re)constructing Identities

6.1 Born This Way

6.2 Out and Proud

6.3 The Romantic Self

6.4 The Sexual Self

6.5 The Collective Self

6.6 Conclusion

7 (Re)building Politics

7.1 Making an Activist

7.2 Writing Histories

7.3 Vision for the Movement

7.4 Visibility Politics

7.5 Information Activism

7.6 Conclusion

8 Conclusion<

8.1 Rusted Pink Curtain

8.2 Networked Sexual Globalization

8.3 Hoax Queer Wars

Timeline

Index

This book traces the fascinating history of the first Polish gay and lesbian magazines to explore the globalization of LGBT identities and politics in Central and Eastern Europe during the twilight years of the Cold War. It details the emergence of homosexual movement and charts cross-border flows of cultural products, identity paradigms and activism models in communist Poland. The work demonstrates that Polish homosexual activists were not locked behind the Iron Curtain, but actively participated in the transnational construction of homosexuality. Their magazines were largely influenced by Western magazines: used similar words, discussed similar topics or simply translated Western texts and reproduced Western images. However, the imported ideas were not just copied but selectively adopted as well as strategically and creatively adapted in the Polish magazines so their authors could construct their own unique identities and build their own original politics.