A protest goer holds an "Everyone deserves love and respect" banner during a gathering in Bratislava on October 27, 2022. (source: TASR - Dano Veselský)
Denis Svitek did not feel disappointment after parliament failed to pass a cohabitation bill to a second reading and disregarded the voice of almost 42,000 people calling for its adoption.
“I was outraged” the 28-year-old queer man from the Hlohovec area confessed.
The proposal, put forward by the liberal SaS party following the October 12 terrorist attack outside the Tepláreň gay bar in Bratislava, meant to help unmarried couples by granting them inheritance rights or rights to access each other’s health documentation.
However, conservative and far-right parties feared that the bill would have introduced registered partnerships. Alliance for Family, a notorious organisation that put together a failed ‘pro-family’ referendum that witch-hunts the LGBT+ community with the support of the Catholic Church in 2015, launched a petition against the cohabitation bill, which they presented as a registered partnership bill.
“Developments in the EU after the adoption of registered partnerships should be a warning to you!” the conservative group urged MPs. “Don’t play with fire! It’s about the children!”
Nearly 18,000 people backed the petition with their signatures, significantly fewer than the first call initiated by activist Marek Mach or the second call initiated by Iniciatíva Inakosť, an LGBT+ organisation.
Svitek also decided to sign Iniciatíva Inakosť’s call, titled ‘It’s About Our Life’, together with more than 31,000 like-minded people. They demand that Slovakia adopt legislative measures to improve the situation of LGBT+ people, including life partnerships. The young man considers such initiatives to be important, though scepticism can be felt in his words.
“I don’t know how it’s going to end but I have no high hopes for change.”
