Slovak government drops gay agenda in hopes of getting re-elected
The socialist government of Slovakia has dropped its National
Action Plan for advancing the LGBT agenda in the predominantly Roman Catholic
country, according to a gay rights advocacy group funded by the European Union.
The
retreat is a victory for the Alliance for the Family (AZR), a coalition of
church and civil organizations that has opposed the Social Democratic
government's efforts to develop a National Action Plan for LGBT rights to
please the European Union.
According
to ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association)
Europe, "The Slovak government abandoned its plan to adopt a National
Action Plan on LGBTI Equality, stating it should be a matter for the next
government." ILGA pronounced itself "very disappointed and dismayed"
at the Jan. 13 announcement.
The next
parliamentary elections are set for March.
Four years
into the drafting by the usual coalition of bureaucrats and operatives from
pro-LGBT human rights organizations funded by the European Union and American
philanthropists, the draft plan was unveiled for public feedback in October,
followed by a seminar in Bratislava in November transmitted live via podcast
throughout the country.
The Action
Plan declared: "Gays and lesbians, as well as bisexuals and transgenders,
have for centuries been exposed to homophobia, transphobia and other forms of
hatred and discrimination. There is a need for particular measures … to
eliminate their criminalization, marginalization, social exclusion and violence
based on sexual orientation or gender identity."
Conservatives
feared that the government wanted legal recognition of homosexual partnerships
followed by adoption rights. "We're not against human rights protection
and promotion," AZR vice chair Anna Veresova told the news media in the
fall. "But we know that the pressure from lobbyists won't stop with
registered partnerships but will always continue on to marriage, children's
adoption by same-sex couples and penalties for speaking one's mind."
ILGA's web
page quotes Katrin Hugendubel, its "advocacy director":
"Slovakia has [a] very poor track record on LGBTI equality and currently
is on 22nd place among 28 EU countries on our Rainbow Europe
map."
The
Slovakian National Council (its parliament) has resisted in 2014 the usual
pressure from the European Union to normalize LGBT relations by defining
marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the constitution.
But last
year, the AZR's referendum rejecting the gay agenda failed to reach the
required threshold of 50% of all eligible voters to put its measures in the
constitution (the turnout was just over 21%). It still showed overwhelming
opposition to redefining marriage, same-sex adoption, and sex education against
parents' wishes, with 90% against each of the three.
Agenda
Europe, a conservative Christian news agency, argued that the low turnout was
at least partly caused by the refusal of the country's news media to run
messaging from the church-led coalition behind the referendum.
Agenda
Europe predicts that if the Social Democrats are replaced by a conservative
coalition, "a change of government [will] further decrease the risk of any
homo-privilege action plan being adopted." Left unsaid is the conclusion
reached by the SDs: their chances of re-election could only be diminished by
pushing homosexual agenda items in the run-up to the election.
Homosexuals
are protected from discrimination in employment and housing, but same-sex
relationships are not considered marriages, nor are same-sex unions are
recognized in law. Parenting by two members of the same sex, be it by adoption,
in vitro fertilization, or surrogacy, is not allowed.
