Thousands of people gathered in the center of the Slovakian capital Bratislava on Friday to commemorate the victims of the attack on a gay bar and to protest the hatred of sexual minorities. President Zuzana Caputova and Prime Minister Eduard Heger were also in attendance. Caputova apologized in an emotional speech: “Forgive me, I’m sorry that our society was unable to protect your loved ones.”
Protesters laid flowers on the spot and gathered in Slovakia’s National Uprising Square. Caputova received jubilant approval from those present when she said in a stirring voice and visibly on the verge of tears: “I’m sorry that you, as members of the LGBTIQ community in Slovakia, still feel unwanted. They are ours and are valuable to our society.”
The population called on Caputova to unite against the hatred that made the crime possible.
Wednesday night, a 19-year-old shot and severely injured a woman in front of a bar known as a meeting point for the LGBTIQ scene (see video above). He then published hate messages and some sort of manifesto with homophobic and right-wing extremist content on digital networks before committing suicide.
The media blamed internet agitation and derogatory statements by politicians against sexual minorities in the Catholic-conservative country for the crime. The English abbreviation LGBTIQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans people, queer and intersex people.
Source: Krone
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