“This can happen to any of usâ€: Bratislava murders rock Czech LGBT community
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Loading... - Lisa Pereenboom
- 17 Oct 2022
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The shooting dead last week of two young gay men in the Slovak capital Bratislava has also rocked the LGBT community in Czechia, with many drawing a link between negative portrayals of sexual minorities and acts of violence. I discussed that issue with Czech marriage equality campaigner Adéla Horáková – but first asked her about the mood among her community.
“First of all it’s sadness – sadness for the victims, for their families, for all the LGBT people in Slovakia and in the region.
“And I think the second most frequent reaction, or emotion, I have seen at vigils, on social media, among my friends, is anger.
“People are angry at the people who let this happen, who enabled this to happen, and who continue to enable this to happen”.
On Thursday, the day after the murders, there was an interview with the presidential candidate Pavel Fischer, who suggested marriage equality could lead to child trafficking. That seemed to spark a debate about whether such views can lead to violence. What would you say to those people who would argue that this view is perhaps exaggerated, and that what happened in Bratislava was an isolated incident involving one disturbed individual?
“I would say words do kill.
“I believe people like Mr. Fischer – I hope – do not wish for such violence to happen.
“But they do not see the link between their words and the actions of an indeed deranged individual. And the link is there. Read More...
