Slovakia´s first ever Gay Pride hampered by neonazis

Published July, 2010
by Easterndaze

On Saturday, after talking to the affable DJ and producer Baltazar from the local house and techno label Leporelo, we headed to the Gay Pride (dubbed Dúhový Pride or the Rainbow Pride in Slovakia). Our hopes were high after the buzz we felt the previous night during the interview with Romana Schlesinger. But walking through the city we encountered almost on every corner packs of local neo-nazis that were assembling for a illegal counter-demonstration just a few hundred meters away from the gay pride.

The police encircled the 500+ crowd of supporters of the gay pride who were subsequently decided not to march through the city as the police declared it was unable to secure them (we however stumbled across a slightly bizarre sight of a wedding procession escorted by police just as the Gay Pride crowd was starting to gather on the nearby Hviezdoslav square). Yet, over our heads a police helicopter was circling, in an futile attempt to prove police presence. Disappointed and gased by the tear gas canisters thrown into the crowd by neo-nazis, we headed for the main station to catch a train to Brno. The Czech Republic exploration will be discussed subsequently after a small jump cut.