Process:
Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is often a little mentioned but real issue in the urban communities of countries with young or developing democracies. For the first time, sizeable public attention was brought to this issue by the city of Lutsk during the International Theatre Festival “Mandrivnyi Vishak” (‘nomadic hanger’ in Ukrainian) that was held on 15-17 September 2017. The city invited an LGBT artist to showcase the performance “Identity map: the Language of Dissent”. The young man performed a rather open-minded (provocative for some) piece, where he demonstrated cases of stigmatization of his and others’ existence because of their gender, sexual identity, race or social identity.
To make the audience live the experience of influence of the language of dissent, the artist proposed that spectators scratched words or short messages on his uncovered body - both positive as well as negative – that the spectators had heard or used concerning LGBT, people of another race or social status. The artist left the stage carrying with him the encrypted messages of tolerance as well as misunderstanding.
The performance triggered a lot of discussion in the audience as well as among Lutsk residents in the days that followed, underling its importance for the city administrators for ‘meeting the invisible’ and developing and encouraging a spirit of understanding and inclusiveness in the community.
Impact:
A decision was made to regularly include LGBT themes into future community events and ICC gatherings in Ukraine, and to spread this practice to other ICC-UA city members.
Key reference documents:
For more information: https://www.volyn.com.ua/news/90772-u-lutsku-dovely-tolerantnist-pochynaietsia-z-mene
