Gay space is wherever I am': The outlines of pink consumption spaces in Zagreb

Abstract

Based on the dialectical relationship between queerness and homonormativity, the aim of this paper was to outline the spatial framework of pink consumption in Croatia. Since the LGBT community is a specific and sensitive social group, qualitative research methods were used. After calculating the gay index and determining that the city of Zagreb provides the most favourable spatial context for the study of pink consumption, the interview method was used to collect qualitative data. The sample was assembled using the snowball technique (N = 14). The research revealed that there are only few pink consumption places in Zagreb, that they are not even present in all consumption systems, and that they are located in the central part of the city without exception. Although it cannot be argued that they are completely homonormative places, evidence of social exclusivity and sexual conservativism was found. Thus, it has been shown that even fundamentally inclusive places can produce normativity, which deprives them of the potential to achieve equality and emancipation of the Zagreb's LGBT community.