Prague Pride gay festival begins amidst political controversy

The five-day Prague Pride gay festival kicked off on Wednesday amidst heated political controversy. The country’s top political figures, including President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Petr Nečas have voiced their opinions on the event. Organizers say the media attention will swell the ranks of participants – both supporters and opponents – of Saturday’s gay parade through the city centre.

Czeslaw Walek

Up to 7,000 people are expected to take part in the gay pride parade through the Czech capital on Saturday, the highlight of the five-day Prague Pride festival. Held in Prague for the first time, the event started on Wednesday with a photo exhibition, a pubic debate and several parties and discos. The festival’s director, Czeslaw Walek, told Radio Prague about some of the most interesting events the festival has to offer.

“I think we managed to put together a very interesting programme; each day there are different activities. For me personally, I will definitely go to some of the public debates about LGBT seniors and HIV/AIDS. Of course the highlight of Prague Pride is Saturday when we’ll have what now seems a huge parade through the centre of the city, as well as a concert on one of the city’s islands.”

Václav Klaus, photo: Archive of the Czech Government

The reason why organizers expect so many people to turn up on Saturday is a heated political controversy that has surrounded the march. Czech President Václav Klaus last week lashed out against the march when he backed anti-gay comments made by one of his aides.

Mr Klaus also criticized 13 ambassadors who expressed support for the event, including US envoy Norman Eisen and the UK ambassador to Prague, Sian MacLeod.

The controversial figure Ladislav Bátora, who was recently appointed to a senior post at the Education Ministry, also entered the fray when he publicly criticized Prague Mayor, Bohuslav Svoboda, for having endorsed the event.

The exchange sparked a response from Prime Minister Petr Nečas who on Tuesday asked everyone to tone down their rhetoric as the event had been blown out of proportion. Mr Nečas said the Czech Republic was a free country where everyone can voice their opinions as long as they don’t contradict the law.

Petr Nečas

The more vocal opponents of the event include the far-right group Workers Party of Social Justice, as well as the Young Christian Democrats, who are planning to stage their own rallies in Prague on Saturday in protest against the gay pride march.

The ultra-conservative stance on homosexuals, now backed by President Klaus, is in stark contrast with the relatively tolerant attitude of most Czechs. Sociologist Jan Hartl is the head of the STEM polling agency.

“Our surveys show that the Czech population is relatively tolerant towards homosexuals. If we compare our data to those of other countries, we can say that the Czech society is relatively open.”

How does the attitude change over time? Would you say Czechs are becoming more tolerant, or is it going the other way and their tolerance is diminishing?

“We have no indication there is any dynamics in this respect. It seems this is a relatively stable attitude without any significant developments over time.”

Under pressure from conservative groups, however, Prague Pride organizers cancelled one of the festival’s more flamboyant events called Naked Party.