On Monday, on the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, the Association of Parents and Friends delivered an open letter and a petition with 9,000 signatories to the Slovak Parliament. The association, which unites relatives and friends of LGBTI people in Slovakia asks Slovak MPs to abstain from voting in favour of proposals aimed at attacking LGBTI people and their dignity. At the same time, they want to remind MPs that they represent all Slovak citizens and therefore cannot harm any groups of citizens or openly deny their human rights.
Also on the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, Slovak Public Rights Defender Mária Patakyová stated that Slovakia lacks legislative recognition of the cohabitation of same-sex couples. According to her, the smaller scope of granted rights of homosexual couples is also in obvious conflict with at least the principle of equality, which is enshrined in the Slovak Constitution. At the same time, the level of protection of such coexistence is gradually increasing in the member states of the Council of Europe.
A survey conducted last year by the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights in the LGBT community across the European Union showed, among other things, that only 28% of respondents in Slovakia openly talk about their sexual orientation or gender identity, compared to an average of 47% in the EU. As many as 40% of respondents had experienced harassment in the previous year, and only 8% sought police help after a violent attack.
May 17 has been marked as the International Day against Homophobia after the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders on May 17, 1992.
