The Homosexual Initiative Vienna (HOSI Wien) was founded in Vienna in 1979. It is Austria's oldest and largest gay, lesbian and bisexual association. It is a member-based organisation holding an annual general meeting and board elections. The organisation supports several sub groups including a youth group and women's group. It organises the annual Vienna Pride and Rainbow Parade.

Origin of the name

HOSI is the abbreviation for homosexual initiative and is used as a prefix by several different organisations which advocate for the rights of

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

people in Austria and some neighbouring countries, such as ''HOSI

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

'', ''HOSI

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

'', ''HOSI

Tirol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

''. HOSI is also used to refer to these organisations collectively.

Activities

HOSI Vienna have worked to secure

LGBT rights in Austria Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Austria have advanced significantly in the 21st century, and are now considered generally progressive. Both male and female forms of same-sex sexual activity are legal in Austria. ...

. In the 1980s and 1990s, HOSI Wien was very active in the

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

movement. It maintains the Names Project Wien, a HIV/AIDS memorial quilt initiative started in 1992. It has produced the magazine LAMBDA-Nachrichten since 1979, the oldest German language gay and lesbian magazine. It runs a community centre in the Naschmarkt called Glugg, which also serves as the organisation's office, archives and storage facilities. It houses meeting rooms and a stage, and runs a theatre group, The HOSIsters.

Marches and parades

HOSI Wien organised the first gay rights half-day festival and unofficial march in Vienna in 1982, attended by approximately 100 people. This was followed by the first

Pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

in 1984, organised by a range of gay and lesbian groups as part of a Gay Pride Week (“Warme Woche”). Approximately 300 participants marched down Kärntner Straße. In 1989, HOSI Wien organised a gay marriage parade with unofficial weddings. Following the bankruptcy of the previous organisers CSD Wien in 2003, HOSI Wien took over the organisation of the Rainbow Parade. They organised the 8th

Europride EuroPride is a pan-European identity, pan-European international event dedicated to Gay pride, LGBT pride, hosted by a different European city each year. The host city is usually one with an established gay pride, pride event or a significan ...

in 2001 and the 26th Europride which took place in 2019 in Vienna.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control LGBTQ organisations based in Austria Organisations based in Vienna