Good evening. Here is theThursday, October 12 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
One year on, one thing changed
People gather on Zámocká Street on October 12, 2023, to honour Matúš Horváth and Juraj Vankulič, victims of last year's terrorist attack. (source: TASR - Martin Baumann)
A year has passed since a terrorist attack outside Tepláreň, an LGBT+ bar on Zámocká Street in Bratislava, in which two young people died. Their names were Matúš Horváth and Juraj Vankulič.
“We are not an ideology. We are living people who are hurt by derogatory statements,” Tepláreň owner Roman Samotný said on Thursday. “We live in fear that words will translate into action, as it did a year ago.”
Shortly after the attack, LGBT+ organisations asked politicians to take steps to improve the life of queer people in the country. Today, they say that none of their demands have been fulfilled despite the support of about 100 organisations and 33,000 people. Queer people continue to face attacks on a daily basis.
On Wednesday, for example, Smer leader and future PM Robert Fico attacked transgender people during a press conference, implying that this community is not normal and natural. He attacked the community in a campaign video, too. The emerging coalition is full of MPs who share Fico’s view on LGBT+ community.
At present, only one demand will soon become a reality: a community centre for queer people in Bratislava.
5 demands: adoption of a life partnership bill, including the possibility of adopting a child of one partner by the other; dignified transition for transgender people without forced sterilisations; introduction of disciplinary liability for hate speech in parliament, better prosecution of hate crimes; systematic support, creation of safe spaces and support services for LGBT+ community.
Investigation: The investigation into last year’s shooting at the Tepláreň bar should be completed within a month, said the General Prosecutor’s Office. The terrorist who killed two queer people committed suicide after his act.
Tepláreň owner Roman Samotný (l) and acting PM Ľudovít Ódor on Zámocká Street in Bratislava on October 12, 2023. (source: TASR - Martin Baumann)
Tepláreň: The bar, which has served as a place for discussions in the past year, will cease to exist in November, Samotný said. Tepláreň will go back to its roots when it was a party that took place in different places.
Community centre: Bratislava’s first community centre for queer people should open next spring. It will be situated in a building on Krížna Street. LGBT+ organisations are trying to collect €30,000 for renovation of its premises. Anyone can support them. Several embassies have already supported the project.
QUOTE
“So much has already been said and so little has changed for the better. ”
President Zuzana Čaputová on October 12, 2023
More LGBT+ news
Watch a Thursday concertthat honoured Matúš Horváth and Juraj Vankulič.
One year after the murders outside Tepláreň, there are calls to murder LGBT+ people in Bratislava. (Sme)
Lack of doctors helping transgender people, registry offices that arbitrarily refuse to issue new documents to transgender people, lack of official procedures that would address the situation of transgender youth are some of the major problems that transgender people face in Slovakia. (Sme)
“It is up to us to support LGBT+ people at a time when political agreements are sealed with remarks about “gender ideology” and voters are fed outrage that minorities want something outrageous, deviant and incompatible with the Slovak identity,” writes Beata Balogová, editor of the Sme daily.
At 16:00 on October 14, a gathering will take place outside Tepláreň to honour the victims of last year’s terrorist attack. Then, people will walk to the city centre to show others that ‘there is no place for fascist aggression and hatred’ in Bratislava.
In June 2023, the members of the Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia (ECAV) sent the ECAV leadership a letter to find a new form of coexistence with sisters and brothers with minority sexual orientation and gender identity. The letter was signed by pastors and other people from various church congregations in Slovakia. They have not received any response from their leadership since then.
LGBT+ EVENT
Inakosť
Mladosť cinema in Bratislava. (source: FFI/Monika Kováčová)
The film festival Otherness (Inakosť/FFI) will take place from November 22 to 28 in various Bratislava cinemas. The festival will present more than 50 films about queer people divided into several sections (Classics, Queer Hongkong, Diamonds, Disturbia, ...). Czech and Slovak films will also be screened.
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Other stories from The Slovak Spectator website
EU: European socialists suspended Smer and Hlas parties on Thursday.
Migration: Border checks in the region have been extended until November.
Politics: Smer leader RobertFico’s close aide dated a Hungarian secret connection, investigative journalists have found.
Business: These are the richest Slovaks, according to Forbes.
Bratislava: Three things to do for free in the Slovak capital.
Good news: A Slovak artist will exhibit his sculpture by the sea in Australia.
WEATHER FOR FRIDAY: Expect clear skies and daily temperatures ranging from 17°C to 25°C.(SHMÚ)
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