Authors of Research: Alenka Švab in Roman Kuhar

Year of Research: 2003

Financial support: Ministrstvo za delo, družino in socialne zadeve, Ministrstvo za izobraževanje, znanost in šport ter Open society institute New York

Keywords: gay, lesbian, coming out, violence, partnership, transparent closet, family closet, male homosexuality, female homosexuality, everyday life, partnerships (personal), family roles, homosexuality

The first sociological study on everyday life of gays and lesbians in Slovenia was carried out within research project "Family and social contexts of life of gays and lesbians in Slovenia" (2002-2004). The aim of the study was to collect first systematic data on everyday life of gays and lesbians, who represent a hard-to-reach or a hidden social minority. The aim was to find out, which are the social-demographic characteristics of this population and what are the problems they are facing with in everyday life due to their sexual orientation. The research was based on findings from other (foreign) studies and from theoretical references from the fields of sociology, lgbt studies, and gender and sexuality studies. The research attention was put on broader social circumstances and characteristics of late modern Western societies (e.g. reflexive individualism, transformation of intimacy, family changes, changes in parenting etc.) as well as on specificities of the population of gays and lesbians that are results of heteronormative social context (social exclusion, discrimination, violence etc.). The study included various topics that were identified as crucial in everyday life of gays and lesbians (coming out in various social settings, such as friendship networks, parents and family, school, working place, public spaces etc., experiences of violence due to sexual orientation, intimate partnerships, family etc.). Research was carried out with a combination of quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus groups) research methods. Due to sensitivity of the data, only survey data is available at the ADP.

Švab, A. and Kuhar, R. (2020). Everyday life of gays and lesbians, 2003 [Data file]. Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana, Slovenian Social Science Data Archives. ADP - IDNo: VZGL03. https://doi.org/10.17898/ADP_VZGL03_V1