Slovak News Back to the news
Slovak Gays and Lesbians Disappointed With Coalition's Programme
Friday 25 June 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, June 25 (TASR) - Organisers of the first ever 'Rainbow PRIDE Bratislava 2010' gay and lesbian parade in Slovakia said on Friday that they are disappointed at how quickly the emerging coalition has swept the issue of equal rights for gays and lesbians off the table.
"On May 22, we filled the whole of Hviezdoslavovo Square [in Bratislava], with even MPs standing among us. Today it seems, however, that it was all an empty show for them prior to the election. This kind of attitude also gives a clear signal to the extremists who were throwing rocks and tear-gas grenades at us that the human rights of minorities aren't important in Slovakia and don't deserve any attention from the government," Rainbow PRIDE PR manager and spokesperson Romana Schlesinger told TASR on Friday.
Much like it's predecessor, the new government is bringing no change to this issue, said Schlesinger.
Same-sex registered partnerships, which were an issue promoted by the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party headed by Richard Sulik, haven't been included in the emerging coalition's programme. Sulik conceded that SaS will have to explain this to its voters. "There will always be some people unhappy with our decisions. I, for one, would much rather explain why there won't be any decriminalisation of marijuana and registered partnerships than explain why we refused to form this government," said Sulik, adding that SaS tried to work out an agreement that would be more satisfactory for its voters but preferred "budget responsibility" in the end.
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
