{"id":89,"date":"2012-06-18T19:18:39","date_gmt":"2012-06-18T17:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gender.gov.sk\/en\/?p=89"},"modified":"2012-07-20T19:20:20","modified_gmt":"2012-07-20T17:20:20","slug":"pride-march-passes-off-peacefully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gender.gov.sk\/en\/pride-march-passes-off-peacefully\/","title":{"rendered":"Pride march passes off peacefully"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE ORGANISERS of Slovakia\u2019s third Rainbow Pride march, held on June 9, advised those who planned to turn up and show their support for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens to be careful and take precautions with their personal safety. They recommended that attendees leave the event in groups, even if this meant teaming up with strangers, and that before doing so they remove rainbow insignia from their faces with a damp napkin, peel off stickers and pack away banners. The advice was mainly in response to the violence witnessed during the first-ever Rainbow Pride march in May 2010, when around 100 anti-gay protesters, including dozens of supporters of an extremist political movement, attacked the parade, hurling stones and tear gas canisters. Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

This year no major clashes occurred, but police still had to intervene at the start of the rally when an unidentified person threw a smoke grenade into the crowd which had gathered in N\u00e1mestie Slobody (Freedom Square), the start point. Ultimately, it was rain rather than extremists that dispersed the 800-strong crowd, most of them under 25 years of age, once the march had reached its destination, SNP Square.<\/p>\n

About 100 police officers monitored the event, assisted by a helicopter circling overhead; members of a police SWAT team also blocked off roads where members of People\u2019s Party – Our Slovakia (NS\u013dS) \u2013 a far-right political group headed by former leaders of the banned extremist movement Slovensk\u00e1 Pospolitos\u0165 \u2013 might have been able to confront LGBT supporters, the TASR newswire reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing and no one could break the pride of LGBT people; our community is able to come together,\u201d said Romana Schlesinger, one of the march organisers, during her opening remarks to the crowds.<\/p>\n

At the end of the march, Schlesinger, who is a member of the Queer Leaders\u2019 Forum, described it as \u201cmonumental\u201d and said that there were only occasional expressions of intolerance.<\/p>\n

The rally began in Freedom Square with three symbolic wedding ceremonies, in which gay, lesbian and heterosexual couples exchanged vows on a stage. Later, the participants marched to the Government Office and then through nearby streets to the more central SNP Square.<\/p>\n

The event was endorsed by Amnesty International Slovensko, Bratislava mayor Milan Ft\u00e1\u010dnik and two members of the European Parliament, Ulrike Lunacek from Austria and Monika Fla\u0161\u00edkov\u00e1-Be\u0148ov\u00e1 from Slovakia. Ft\u00e1\u010dnik had said ahead of the march that he hoped Bratislava would maintain its image as a tolerant city.<\/p>\n

Two religious groups, the Association for the Protection of the Family, and Citizens for Christian Values and Traditions, organised a march to oppose Rainbow Pride and to support what they called \u201cthe traditional family\u201d, while religious groups held prayers in various parts of the city.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Robert Fico released a neutral statement, remarking that \u201cas far as any gathering is in line with the laws and its participants respect all the regulations,\u201d he would respect it as an expression of the fulfilment of basic rights and freedoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here to support human rights,\u201d Ambassador of Norway to Slovakia Trine Skymoen told The Slovak Spectator. \u201cThe rights of the LGBT community are universal human rights and that\u2019s why I\u2019m here, to celebrate them and to mark them together.”<\/p>\n

Skymoen was one of 18 foreign diplomats who before the march issued a joint statement expressing their moral and practical support for the parade organisers and participants in their right to peacefully assemble to express their human rights and raise awareness of LGBT rights in Slovakia.<\/p>\n

The diplomats\u2019 statement said that LGBT citizens in Slovakia enjoy all the legal guarantees that come with European Union membership, but that beyond EU guarantees, everyone, including LGBT people, should be free to enjoy the rights and freedoms laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.<\/p>\n

The diplomats stressed that they \u201cdo not ask anyone to abandon their principles in the public debate that occurs in any democracy\u201d but that they believe that everyone should have the right to express their view without fear of retribution or reprisal.<\/p>\n

However, J\u00e1n Fige\u013e, the leader of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and a former European commissioner, described the diplomats\u2019 statement as contradictory. Fige\u013e stressed that Slovakia respects all its human-rights-related obligations and bans discrimination and that the constitution guarantees equality before the law for everyone. Fige\u013e said some of the demands of the LGBT community went beyond the framework of the constitution and were not part of the legal order in many of the countries that the ambassadors themselves represent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI consider this repeated initiative by the ambassadors to be inappropriate,\u201d Fige\u013e stated.
\nThe Ambassador of the Netherlands to Slovakia, Daphne Bergsma, in an interview with The Slovak Spectator said that even if people oppose the march they should not restrict the right of others to march and express their opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomosexual people live among us and it is not \u2018us\u2019 and \u2018them\u2019 but it is \u2018us\u2019,\u201d said Bergsma, adding that a friend or a colleague could be gay but other people do not always know it because the person may not be in a position to \u201ccome out\u201d and reveal his or her sexual identity.<\/p>\n

Schlesinger told The Slovak Spectator in an earlier interview that the media is partly responsible for homophobic sentiment in Slovakia, saying that some journalists tend to take a scandal-driven or tabloid approach when covering the issue of homosexuality. In her interview, she highlighted the use of photos, for example from previous Pride marches, where media outlets intentionally selected stereotypical images to illustrate their coverage.<\/p>\n

The rise of the internet and different channels through which people can get information means that LGBT activists are wiser, said Schlesinger.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 30 years ago people were coming out when they were 20 or 30 years old; now they do so when they are 16 and I suppose this is a positive trend,\u201d she told The Slovak Spectator.<\/p>\n

About 50 young parents with children, with the backing of Christian churches, formed a human chain in front of the parliament building in Bratislava to express their support for what they called \u201ctraditional values\u201d and heterosexual marriage. Some wore T-shirts with slogans such as \u201cThe family is wonderful and special because children are our future\u201d and \u201cMum and dad forever, there is nothing better for children\u201d. The activists wore red ribbons that they said symbolise their link with all past generations, TASR reported.<\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0http:\/\/spectator.sme.sk\/articles\/view\/46699\/2\/pride_march_passes_off_peacefully.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE ORGANISERS of Slovakia\u2019s third Rainbow Pride march, held on June 9, advised those who planned to turn up and show their support for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens to be careful and take precautions with their personal safety. They recommended that attendees leave the event in groups, even if … <\/p>\n

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