Even on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, the Chamber failed to speed up the discussion of the amendment on marriage for all. But you can’t stop progress, it will eventually pass, as it did in Britain.
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) falls on Wednesday 17 May every year. His goal? Raise awareness of LGBTI+ rights violations and discrimination and the violence and repression these communities face. To raise awareness of the ideological and religious adversity they have been facing for a long time.
Six Czech non-profits active in the LGBT field and going by the name Jsme fér recalled what accompanied this year’s IDAHOT. A day earlier, ANO Member of Parliament Jana Pastuchová and then STAN Member of Parliament Jan Berki tried to move the discussion of the amendment on marriage for all couples up in the order. Surprisingly, Berki’s proposal was approved, the amendment was postponed. But it was her turn only at nine in the evening, and after that the hope for a faster discussion was extinguished. All parties of the government coalition (ODS, TOP 09, KDU-ČSL, STAN and Pirates) proposed to interrupt the meeting. The reason: nine in the evening is said to be an “indecent time” for discussing marriage. The debate was not even started. The brake worked.
On Wednesday, the day against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, MPs continued to act. Jana Pastuchová again suggested moving the amendment forward, but her proposal was rejected. The majority of ANO MPs voted for, the ODS and SPD mostly against, the People’s Party were against or abstained, half of the Pirates were in favor, the majority of STAN and TOP 09 abstained. Are those who blocked the passage of the amendment homophobic, biphobic or transphobic? It looks that way from the outside, but they’d swear they’re not.
Something else happened on Wednesday. British Ambassador to the Czech Republic Matt Field wrote an article for iDnes about IDAHOT. In it he explains that in the UK they have had a marriage law for everyone for ten years. He was accepted by the Conservative government. “At the time, we heard arguments that it would undermine society, lead to fewer heterosexual marriages and state-sanctioned polygamy, or even fathers marrying their sons to avoid paying taxes.” Similar arguments are heard in our country.
It did not happen. Matt Field continues: “Ten years on, we can say that the people who thought the legalization of same-sex marriage was going to lead to disaster were wrong. The sky didn’t fall on our heads. Society didn’t collapse. It was just that a small number of people were finally allowed to feel that they were society is really accepting.”
Pseudo-Christians block and block
What about the MPs who blocked marriage for everyone in the middle of the discussion of the amendment? Apparently they are turning a blind eye to Field and Britain. They do not want to hear this “propaganda” from the British ambassador. And they probably like his “all-marriage” statistics even less, according to which in Britain in 2013, 54 percent of Britons were in favor of the law, 37 percent were against it. Ten years later, 77 percent of people support the law and only 15 are against it.
Not only that. “Many Conservative MPs who spoke out against the law at the time now say they regret it and would vote for it if they had the chance again. There are 62 LGBT+ MPs in the British Parliament, the largest proportion of whom are members of the Conservative Party,” writes Matt Field. Oh god, what are the domestic conservatives going to do about it?
According to a MEDIAN survey from January 2020, 67 percent of Czechs supported marriage for all. Three years ago, they also measured increasing public support for the adoption of children in gay and lesbian families. This concerned both the other partner’s own children (supported by 77 percent) and children from children’s homes (62 percent). These figures are clearly higher than they were in Britain ten years ago. Marriage for all has really high support in the Czech Republic.
But all it takes is a few dozen stuck-up legislators and forward movement is blocked. what’s up About an ideology that brandishes twisted Christian “values”. It is pseudo-Christianity. After all, every believer, every “Jesus follower” knows that the essence of the Christian message and faith is love. It doesn’t matter if heterosexuals or homosexuals, non-binary people or transsexuals love each other. It is about the relationship and the desire to nurture the relationship as equals.
The brakes brake until smoke billows from the red-hot brakes, but in the end they won’t have the strength to stop the pressure of desire and love. This is how the “good news”, i.e. the gospel, could sound for all LGBTI+ people who desire marriage.
Video: Stop prejudice against us, LGBT+ people call and demand marriage for all (26/10/2022)
The participants of the rally on Wenceslas Square honored the memory of the victims of the homophobic murder in Bratislava and called for an end to prejudice against LGBT+ people. | Video: Radek Bartoníček
