Asiel Caro stands behind the counter inside the RU!DO queer club. (source: Archive of M.J.)
Turning off from Michalská Street, the often busy, bustling, café- and restaurant-lined thoroughfare in Bratislava’s Old Town district, into a narrow passageway, a burst of colour stands out on the whitewashed, weathered walls.
The colours of the rainbow flag hang above RU!DO, one of the few gay bars in the capital.
Opened last year just before the annual Rainbow Pride in Bratislava, it has become a popular spot in the capital.
But more than this, owner Angel Asiel Abreu Caro tells The Slovak Spectator, it is a safe space for all the city’s communities, not just LGBT+. “No matter what anyone‘s religion, skin colour or sexual preferences are, all are welcome here,“ he says.
“We wanted to create a space in which different communities come together while enjoying a good cocktail, a glass of local wine or a cup of coffee side by side,” he says.
