Around twenty different events and performances have been prepared for the sixth Košice Pride festival that began on August 25, culminating with the traditional march for the rights of LGBTI people this coming Saturday, September 1.
A host of events
“Every year, we try to make the programme as varied as possible, and at the same time maintain the most popular events, such as movie screenings and the living library,” Pride Košice director Robert Furiel told the TASR newswire. “During the week, we’ll discuss the situation in which transgender people find themselves and how to make Košice a city for everyone.”
Pride Košice aims to be an event at which people can freely and proudly experience their identity, find refuge and gain motivation to change the atmosphere so that it will be more tolerant towards various identities, the organiser said, as quoted by TASR.
Controversy with clashing events
In addition to the pride parade on Saturday, the beatification of Anna Kolesárová is set to take place on the same day in Kosice.
“Unfortunately, there are some people that see a contradiction in these two events, and they are artificially setting them against each other,” Furiel pointed out. “They even demanded that the Pride event be shifted to another day. We categorically reject that because the two events aren’t exclusive in terms of values and are being coordinated with the help of the police so as to cause the least amount of obstacles possible,” he added.
