STATEMENT OF THE RECTOR REGARDING THE SHOOTING ON ZÁMOCKÁ STREET IN BRATISLAVA

Dear students, dear colleagues, with a delay of several days since the tragic shooting incident on Zámocká Street, I decided to express a short opinion.

 

 

Dear students, dear colleagues,

 

with a delay of several days since the tragic shooting incident on Zámocká Street, I decided to express a short opinion.

 

We are a school that regularly speaks out on the issues of the LGBTI community. It is an agenda that I try to keep as a theme of our school, because I think it is extremely important to point out the absence of state support towards registered partnerships, to the deliberate failure to address their equal status with the rest of society. The partnership cohabitation promoted today by political representation is only a false substitute for regular registered partnerships that provide a full-fledged life path. I am convinced that the people of the LGBTI community bring artistic, cultural, scientific and civilizational values to our common world. They are part of our progress and without them our progress would not be comprehensive and whole.

Aggression, prejudice and intolerance are part of the public space of Slovak society today. The church bears its responsibility for this state of affairs, but also politicians, who often express themselves mockingly, disrespectfully or condescendingly about the LGBTI community.

In my opinion, it is extremely important nowadays to create safety zones and facilities for the LGBTI community, but also for other communities that suffer due to war, injustice, lack of human rights, economic and social distress. I would very much like, despite all the worries we have, to strive for such a zone of safety and calm on our campus. It's about strengthening our academic culture every day by removing any homophobic, sexist or gender-stereotyped remarks from our vocabularies and comments. It's about constant self-control. It is primarily about not harming each other, but at the same time avoiding escalating tension and polarization on the grounds of our school.

 

 

Bohunka Koklesová

Rector of AFAD