Anti-gay attacks dent Slovenian pride
Share
Slovenia is celebrating its 10th annual Gay Pride event this week, but the run-up to the festivities has been somewhat marred by a series of homophobic acts of vandalism. Activists say enough is enough and are calling on politicians do more to promote tolerance and protect LGBT rights.
Slovenia has some of the most progressive anti-discrimination legislation in the region, but gay rights campaigners say that, in practice, these laws are not always implemented.
Last week one of the most popular gay bars in the capital, Ljubjana, was vandalised and daubed with homophobic graffiti. The house of a judge who recently handed jail sentences to three men for assaulting a gay rights activist was also targeted.
Such incidents tend to occur every year, mostly around the time Gay Pride is held. Last year, Mitja Blažič - Slovenia's most well-known gay activist - was brutally attacked in front of the same bar.
He says that the gay community has had enough: ''We are tired of waiting, of people playing the innocent, of political games, of people calculating, of violence. We only want equal rights, equal respect of human rights and equal opportunities.''
This sentiment is captured in the slogan for this year's gay pride march: "'Enough waiting".
One of the things Mr Blažič and other activists would most like to see is the long-awaited Family Act come into force. This law - which would put same-sex couples on an equal footing as straight couples and give them the right to marry and adopt - has been snarled up in the parliamentary system for over a year, facing strong opposition from the Catholic Church and more conservative politicians.
