these images are from drag shows in sophia, in the 19 ninety's back then a completely new club culture sprang up here virtually overnight or part of it and looks horrible. if everyone went to this 1st clubs, north carolina, they had the 1st drug, queens and gogo boys under were lavish and extravagant, shows the drag queens did more than just entertain. they aim to provoke and attract attention and use humor to question traditional gender roles. this made them political. these ninety's isla videos belong to a new archive documenting the history of dragon bulgaria that yas and is now curating. and i know me are story, but it was like a kind of loud and all that which was festive, don't clubs today. people put a lot of effort into the here it was all been big party, but then suddenly it was all over says stunning me upon

a lot of who also experienced those club nights in the 19 ninety's. he's a philosopher with an interest in bulgarian queer history drugs, all queens and king and their performances are something that i already guard as a form of ours, the generation that was really active and shaped to the culture. here in the ninety's the prize they bathed was all they had to leave. what's important, especially when it comes to queer cultural expression, i think a lot of people left cinema organizes the sophia queer form. now he's preparing an exhibition together with artist christiane sherlock av jelic. of graphic art features, traditional bulgarian motifs. with

a quick twist. but some he a feel his artworks go too far for them. nation, religion and family and no laughing matter. the artist says bulgarians like to claim their tolerance, they're fine with quiz, just not in their own family. queer balkans, to knees on sleigh. we already know and assume that the culture is there. and my answer is rooted in that realization. i would only say that we ourselves have done enough to actually have a serious socially by through visibility. still, homosexuality is slowly becoming more visible in the balkans on line in films and on t v. the final of the eurovision song contest due

to it's often camp and eccentric acts. the e s. c has long been a hit with the quick community, including the balkans quiz does regularly take part. still stunning, may punch toes doesn't think to show helps to spill prejudices, eurovision in bulgaria, especially for conservative in the reactionary forces, is one of those arguments they used when they speak about gail ball. eurovision is like a kind of sub clause or sub argument. and in no kind of homophobic social . what's your age and the embodiment of for some kind of for western up version the you vision party took place in a nuclear cultural center located at the headquarters of the organization single step. it was founded by entrepreneur yvonne demon who aims to create security, visibility and acceptance. nope, of the structural club, emily, the past they sang,

a journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single stable door knob posture. i believe we can achieve exempt and society of stature slice premise, but even demos organization supports queen young people and their parents. he says it's high time. such help is being offered in bulgaria. i think an indicator of where, where we are in terms of acceptance of algebra. yard people will be how many young people leave the country primarily because their eligibility i because that's just been the case for many, many years. even team of also left bulgaria to study in the us and then worked on wall street bought 4 years ago, a visit to his homeland changed everything. this young kid, i didn't know,

he asked me camry talk. i don't have anybody, doctor. she shared with me that job, he had tried to commit suicide after our telling his mom, she was gay and she had taken him to a psychiatrist to be cured and dom vats story. this kid that was right in front of me really effect of my life a year later i came back in sure establish single stem exhibitions like this one aim to make queen love visible and give young people courage. displaying photos like these in public is still an exception in the balkans, while the exhibition made single step a target for nationalists and religious fanatics. right? from that, is it a cra results, johnny? they stock signs on the windows are very to came in here and attacked visitors

projects, a canadian shill for meals, dance political provocation fee. and i got a bunch of adults from start there trying to win vote, set of queer people's expanse for bethany. that stood up. even demo of says there's just one way to counter such publication to stand up and be counted. at this more to tower artists, septicemia is presenting a work which reveals her innermost thoughts. it's comprised of entries from her diary which have been super imposed and applied to the towers bare walls. he tells the story of her coming out after kissing some girl. and apparently the next day i say, so you know, let's go get some coffee or whatever. and she'll be like, well, there is talking come from. and so i started, you know, and realizing that may be my, i sexuality is not exactly the way that it's in are supposed to be. it was very

um, i'm brutal actually because i lost our lots of friends and i got into many fights, and it was difficult for a lot of people to actually accept this change. all that triggered in septa and outpouring of artistic creativity. this exhibition is entitled to forces that create one another. the one force is the individual sexuality. the other is society's powers of assimilation served oh wants to know how the true self can survive in society without being dismissed by the majority in stereotypical fashion. for me just being able to tell a story and go it out in a. so looks a bitch on as a gay woman and are being completely, you know, open about that and leaving no question about it at all. that feels important for

me as an artist, as well. in a western societies where identity politics gets like it becomes a dirty weren't. i'm just because it's so you know, talk about a q, you any feels like a bit like a small ambush. mind. aah! says just says for her, it's ultimately about more than just representation in politically correct language . it's about real acceptance in sylvia night has fallen. time for artist johnson school, rob skis, alter ego to put in an appearance. this is my 2nd so for julia to collect ticker drug teacher. yeah. think that go to her. that day. ali me.

so i think it's typical for bulgarians to celebrate for days on end. take loops difficulties slightly off from whatever floor the full class or film. julietta is an institution in this club. she says drag culture is currently enjoying a renaissance. with the swanky drag queens are the ambassadors of the queer community. we are gale. they're simply bravery with products and all of the clubs are no longer just for gays and lesbians. they're mixed. and julietta isn't the only one to think that's a welcome development. but my thought you most book find that we need such parties bad a dash of color to bulgarian reality a and that's why it, which is sometimes pretty grab a show people, you can be free part of what i wanted to inspire. younger people who are afraid of

community, that's julietta mission, plan a to spread love and good cheer, nestles training. the dawn of a new era, evident in sophia, can't yet be felt in sarajevo, the capital of bosnia and herzegovina. since the end of the ottoman empire, islam has been a major influence on society. here. many young people leave the country, hoping for better opportunities in the e. u. homophobia is widespread, but policy makers are now discussing legalizing same sex marriage, hoping that will help bosnia a seed to the in change may be slow in coming, but elaina molnar thinks it's better late than never at 70. she could finally become the woman. she always knew. she was

slow stools to the guys felt like a woman, as long as i can remember not to ship and i liked what the girls were wearing and wanted to dress like that would sit here today. it was worse when i was vehicle i worked and the girls turned into pretty young woman. i cried champs is rochelle, so i'd still women's dressers, fairly close lines and put them on to comfort myself, said mallow dish. we meet alena mona at our community center in sarajevo. here she offers online counseling sessions for young people who suddenly nicole, the young trans people, call me kiera kil, that means mom. so mike, nestle, daniel, pauline and nipple. most young people suffer from not being understood by those around them, die nice their family neighbors, et cetera lunches, and they hide their identity and dress bessolo men at night to afford to buy in the end. they haven't achieved anything looking, nothing,

not unique or niche iniesta. elena knows those feelings all too well for years. she also lived in fear and denial. but then suddenly everything changed. but also so literally to trans payable and sex reassignment surgery are taboo topics and bosnia and herzegovina. you know, when you said them until 7 years ago, i didn't know anything about trims, local shelly, and then i heard about major elena fuqua, eventually serbia, and started doing research on the internet. yes, i'm put you look and i discovered there were transcripts to pseudo yellow police, a lot of posted trans elaina molnar got to know. helena vacovich, who gave her a lot of help and encouragement was, had the law. if i'd known all this before, i'd have started transitioning much sooner. only a butch elaina made great sacrifices to begin her new life in

neighboring serbia. she found doctors who would perform the sex reassignment surgery starting off from sarajevo as dimly lit bus station 70. you rode elaina molnar, embarked on the most important journey of her life. the bus would take her to the doctor's in belgrade. i spoke with her, but she could not afford the expensive preparatory treatments and long hormone therapy required with jesus. well, i couldn't even afford to rent a room, though i slept in ruins. park floor at the last station, so i can save up money for the farmers fellows by tomorrow. foolish to sound too bad. it doesn't judge it over the last 2 years. i've been report gucia me so i'm no

longer the person i used to. she lived in a cocoon for so long. the children now i'm free. so some book, i'm a woman. the genius. ah, it is a normal queer life possible in bosnia and herzegovina, amena a mom of it is trying to make that possible at the ceo open center. she campaigns for equal rights such as same sex marriage fights against discrimination and organizes aid for victims of violence. oh, les money keyvonte, what the cause there are parents who still send their children to religious conversion thoroughly something. la fontose, one hardly any one talking about the national russian pros. 30 math, a jani are unique where people live. yeah, pretty isolated. lions were barely visible and probably would already think that's why it's important to build up a network and strengthen the career community. nice me way,

my mortgage. although some things have improved, i mean a remains careful when she's out in public. for for some rosanna claim, i do look a little queer job as only with short hair and how i dress, you know, and they always because every, when i encounter a large group of men, i either wait until they're gone like i'm or across the street really say are really update in the war style. it's a constant battle for safety and acceptance and not the gl or the law. oh, i don't think we've reached the point year that i as a woman who loves other women, could raise a child with my partner. ah, swearing partner, canada, and i think that would be impossible. it's me him on which that's why i would then leave this country. was amanda nod, and she's not alone in thinking that way many young people have long left in search

of a better life. in the e. u, amina says, the constant struggle for better living conditions, zaps her strength. she's only in her early twenties, but already exhausted. the thing that, that the deny that our society is making progress. but the future is our young generation muscle more slowly casting off the chains that still binders party under the sun. because i believe we're still living in a phase of war just without visible weapons. and vice versa, but we as a society still find ourselves in a very unsafe supposing all, tonya gray and nessie gordon, blue gin, bosnia and herzegovina, queer people are confronted with prejudice. and the long shadows of war. the deep scars left by the bosnian war, which ended in 1995, are still visible in sarajevo to day. lena telemachus is one of the most prominent

voices of young lesbian literature in the balkans in asia, fish, amazon, there's less of the shell of them. i read a lot about what happened after the war in the late 19 a lot of water. we on them flaws back then no one talked about queer people, l g, b, t, your them at that familiar. it was really hard to meet others like yourself which and thus lack of contact created a great loneliness, was some in those below was try not easy. bog snag actually said the saucy man. now she pulled these experiences into her book. call me esteban. it's a collection of stories about her family, the war and the love between 2 women. do you hear a volley of machine gun flyer, bullets hurtles through the air like gloating birds. then the country in which i lived last is peace. so my family inevitably lost its piece to

the scars left by the war still exist on walls and in people's souls. layla kellum was each was 12 when the war began and 15 when it ended said this on a, i stayed on the war, the family breaker, and then the hopeless time after the war and feeling different than other people that brought up. not knowing any one who feels the same way. why and who i could tell why really was in the last thoughts when i look at some point, all those things caused my break. davila up south swamp lane. this is the war also sparked violence within families. that's being carried on into the younger generation. it's an ongoing trauma for people in bosnia and herzegovina. and its

impact can be seen in literature, art and music to this day. dana snacking was that as they some might say, the war is over a presented in our literature, and ours today, i'll, i postal toya about the war lasted a long time and was very painful. nickina for every single one of us and for our society. molly dahlia resort. no. those tenant context. next we had to pre door in a north of the country, a 6 hour drive from sarajevo. mm. the wall also raged here. images from one of the nearby concentration camps shocked the world in 1992 in bronco to neighbor lives in pre a door. he's gay in a place where being openly queer is still dangerous as almost an hour at the reason

. if it comes here all night after being attacked physically and psychologically squad in here, it's impossible for 2 men to hold hands on the street or to be affectionate. with one another in a cafe? no. the way heterosexual couples are because the risk of violence is very high. aud button sound look now see, know that all this here, unfurling a rainbow flag in front of a city hall can cause a full blown scandal. all your so doesn't do you. no. yes. i am in antonio's violence and heat are always present when we talk about queer people in our society of those boston also, they thought incidentally, the hatred of queers is what? bonds far, right? groups together. the most part doesn't o'clock, we're dealing with his organization called clark. he tries to teach young people empathy and offer queer youths

a safe place to meet out. i was the head to going eternal bonnet, bull street in bosnia herzegovina. there still is not a single cafe for queer people. ordinary i've no nice exists where they can meet in public without having to put on an act a mom or what we really need a reliable institutions and talk which supports us when it's necessary, like a down a nas, i, stars eyes the bottom in 2019 bronco witnessed a historic moment 1st hand when his country hosted its 1st ever pride parade in sarajevo. the police presence was huge, fearing attacks, participants were only allowed to carry rainbow flags within the secured areas. ah, bronco helped organize the parade. a mazda, thanks for coming. you to into the streets of sarajevo,

to fight for equal rights in bosnia herzegovina. ah, that isn't sales volcano at that moment. so when i saw the huge number of people who were there and i was so happy and content doesn't, coupled with the previous fear and sudden oblong of those feelings completely overwhelmed. me. me think that i would almost be his surveys are being able to go out in public health and to show that we exist and the problems we have every day. it was more that was a huge success or are generally dot dot parade was a really, really big step for the school. know all we spent 15 years fighting to make that parade. also on the honor drama, which led us advice on dog j. o. donna, this also taking part in his historic parade was singer bushel

rachel esther in bosnia herzegovina. he's known and loved beyond the borders of his homeland. let me say that i really believe that today we're coming out of the dark mason stepping into the light. that's the best description for what's happening here today. oh, it's been a love connect because i don't have a nice night here. a door towards europe is opening outside of it all day. ah, boucher fred shoe finds his inspiration in the mountains. ah, definitely may have been many that i yes, this is one of my favorite places almost yonder. i apologize and it's a place of crashed i sat, deluxe think we have a stronger connection to nature and to society called prong annual dynamic tuscany . so i try to devote myself to these things like an archaeologist to log you will again deck the make one legend of this place,

quail hollow into my lyrics because my p santa ah ah, he makes sift of music mixing traditional balkan folk songs sung at weddings and funerals with muslim and jewish prayers, and fragments of ancient byzantine liturgy. he finds material for his songs in archives, old collections and museums with some. all right, so now i took what is really pure, whatever type the call to prayer or ah, took is anti scope songs which are consciously close to god to nature and to self either the thumb on phoebe, i always say night and saved eyes, my kindred spirit i have dogs, hon. more than my marriage, her great thought my marriage with our event and with music, and the the only admit that there was, ah, bozo is a spiritual person. he rises early trains sings and reads.

then he has he, in this tea house that's become his 2nd home. bozo exudes a great sense of in apiece. but his appearance has also made him enemies in a country strongly influenced by islam and orthodox christianity. dallas. there threepenny. ah dreadful, whether you're queer or gay, or just trying to live your life, you really need support wanted to the my to someone who will help you in this battle. who got question because it's really that really taffy to be a pioneer. yeah. and change things as an individual, he, cowboy, dean. it's for me. any thought neg attorney maybe that wasn't my primary motive. my teeth. alec was more, but i think my musical helps people to accept their differences between your sis, chiva, your lord the but in the balkans there are very few queer people who express themselves

as freely as he does. and people love him for it. in the late 19 ninety's, everything was about showing national and religious solidarity. it was important to belong, not to be different. so for many in the balkans coming out his queer is still taking a big risk. the much the point of the little go make. keep our mouth, vivian. my a valve cover china, old lizzie on i think things will get better. i believe that's a good me egg it. unfortunately, we're still in constant distract, crazy, lazy. this distress stems from a huge sense of insecurity and fear of living our own lives on a project. like, oh, i saw some damn. was it come you leave below. music has always been my protective shield, you know, to pronounce your love to pronounce your sabbath. i found freedom, laugh and myself, the through muse, any costume for the lp?

ah, this film is about fear and courage, art and power, violence and love. so what will the future bring for quiz in the balkans? what i would like to see, but we're both just more aware called queried yes and not them. i hope that the queer community will become strong guys and that more people will come out with their outfit. that people will finally start living without steal, travel across vehicles. if serbia wants to be a chew democracy, it must protect its minority or swaim and una seneca wasn't fighting for which was that were free and equal and accepted to what need which any we did this. you know, because we want adults only wants to know i really hope

that you're not in 10 years young. i would you be gay. people chose to stay in this country. nice relatives. in my wildest dreams, in vision bulgaria as a queer vacation paradise in the balkans. i was gonna say, nick and over 5 years the less love the winner ah. cast off lucca. stay fixed out for an adventure on the water with a sail boat across lake constance. he docks at the city of constance while he's

there. and of course, a picturesque flower island of my. now a check in 30 minutes on d. w. he's a radical defender of the faith, yoseph collapsing, hope benedict, the 16th under his leadership, the catholic church. these did the greatest crisis a global sexual abuse scandal. position on the matter. we mean controversial today with german pope from young were former to defender embassy, 90 minutes on d w. oh. we've got some hot tips for your bucket list. ah,

magic corner check hot spot for food and some great cultural memorials to boot. do w, travel off we go ah, ah ah, ah, this is dw news live from berlin, ukraine fights on after it's symbolic defeat inviting you with president lansky says victory will come through diplomacy, not on the battlefield. fears grow about the fate of ukrainian soldiers who serene .