“Lequ Zemër” 

By Dardan Hoti

With a deep understanding of the impact that journalism can have on our society, and seeing that LGBTIQ+ experiences and perspectives are often overlooked or misrepresented in the media, we, as Sekhmet Institute, have created a radio show that aims to provide a fresh and informative window on the lives of queer people in Kosovo.

Supported through the Sustain Media program,  co-financed by the European Union and Germany and implemented by the GIZ office in Kosovo,  “Lequ Zemër” has been airing  on Glam Radio for a year. The show broadcasts  once every two weeks on Wednesday, dedicated to the rights and lives of LGBTIQ+ people.

Its name, “Lequ Zemër” (Open (your) heart), reflects not only our steadfast belief in equal values and respect for all, but also our commitment to bringing voices and stories that are often overshadowed in traditional media.

In our show, “Lequ Zemër”, we discuss the role of journalism in LGBTIQ+ issues and the responsibility of journalists in promoting understanding and acceptance of LGBTIQ+ people through their reports. 

Also, we address the linguistic aspect of gender-neutral pronouns, with a special focus on the Albanian language, which traditionally has a binary structure.

For a year now, “Lequ Zemër” has become the home of voices that have no voice. The voices of a lesbian couple, a transsexual person, and a bisexual and asexual person have been heard. 

We are proud to offer for the first time a personal account of an Intersex person, a sexual characteristic that does not fit the typical binary notions of male or female bodies. 

Through 20 episodes of the bi-weekly “Lequ Zemër” show, we have provided information to promote equal treatment for all LGBTIQ+ persons in Kosovo. 

We also talked about safe spaces in Prishtina, the opening of the only queer bar, Bubble Pub, queer art, and queer cinematography.  

We are happy that we have brought all these shows through the collaboration with Glam Radio, a radio that was founded on the belief that all listeners, regardless of where they live, ethnicity, age, gender and sexual orientation, cultural background or language, should have the opportunity to listen to high quality programs.

Together with listeners, Glam Radio is bringing radio to life in the fullest sense of the word, encouraging diversity of thought, development, perspective and entertainment.

In order for all these efforts of ours to diversify the space of traditional media with stories of marginalized voices, to be documented and accessible to people who want to learn more, in addition to the broadcast on Glam Radio, the “Lequ Zemër” show is also archived on other platforms, such as Spotify.