Gay Games Interview: the women of Croatian choir Le Zbor

By Anna McFaith on Thursday, August 5, 2010 - 15:33

It's one of the best parts of the Gay Games formula; you get to meet people from all ethnicities, age groups, sexual orientations, religions and walks of life.

It's because of this the eurOut staff got a chance to hear and meet the Croatian choir Le Zbor as they performed at the Women Place. After their rallying performance, I got the chance to catch up with them and listen to the tales of their five year journey.

It's not something you see every day in a buzzing city like Cologne; nine women in traditional clothing who sing Acapella in their native Croatian tongue to a group of lesbian women in a big tent. They were introduced in an interlude of a DJ set and for a moment I was worried they would not be able to hold their own against the backdrop of garage punk. I was so very, very wrong.

As the first words came out of the mouths of the varied and energetic women the audience was sold. They sang pure, powerful and enchanting, and even the people who had not come to the Women Place to see them were swept up into the joy of watching people do what they love most.

After their set, the women met their admiring listeners and I caught up with Lea, who runs the choir. She shared her story, and that of the choir women with me, and took me back five years to a time when a group of talented women came together to sing for human rights.

Five women came together in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, to sing and stand up for what they believed in; human rights, LGBT rights and environmental awareness. The partly Christian, partly Arabic city, which is rather low on LGBT rights, was an intimidating place for most of the women to stand up in. Lea explains:

In the beginning none of the women wanted to get their picture taken or have reporters come in. Sometimes they were even afraid to perform in public. It was through singing and seeing the positive reaction of the audience that they lost their fear.

The group now has 15 to 18 members and they try to perform as often as possible. “We practice two times a week, but if we have a performance we practice much more. We have done around 80 concerts in five years and we have been to a lot of places. Because of money and time, some of the women could not make it, but the Gay Games sponsored us as much as they could and we were able to come with nine women.” Lea explains.

They are singing a lot during the Gay Games. On Sunday they performed at the Comedy Theatre and on Tuesday they sang throughout the city.

The group will continue to perform, as they realize their efforts are having the desired effect. “Gay rights are getting better and there is now a gay men's choir in Serbia trying to get proper funding!” Lea announces happily.

When asked if Lea has anything to say to our readers, she thinks for a second, and then says that the most important thing anyone can do is to stand up for your rights. Me, as a hard core feminist, very much agree.