Framing LGBT Issues in Croatian Newspapers: Between Civil Rights and Traditional Morality, Conference

The EU raises various concerns in citizens of small nations such as Croatia. New European citizens often fear that larger and more powerful states will direct EU policies and endanger cultural heritage and values of smaller societies. A recent referendum on the constitutional definition of marriage, held only months after Croatia's EU entry, demonstrates one such battle for preservation of traditional family values in face of EU’s LGBT policies and recognition of same-sex marriage in countries such as the UK and France. The referendum campaign exposed two distinct discourses on LGBT issues: while the opponents of referendum framed same-sex unions in terms of civil rights, the supporters framed their demands as a defence of a traditional family. We will analyse how these two discourses emerged and developed in Croatian society following the regime change in 2000 and the first legislative steps towards LGBT equality in 2003 (the Same-Sex Unions Act). We will focus on the discourse in various Croatian newspapers that occurred during critical discourse moments or moments of intensified debate on LGBT community such as annual Pride parades, Parliament debates about relevant laws, the Health Education Curriculum debate and the campaign on referendum on constitutional definition of marriage