First Politician in Czech History Comes Out

One of the more vocal advocates for equal parenting rights for gay Czech couples is economist and Minister for Regional Development Karla Šlechtová (ANO).

Šlechtová has gone on record saying that children simply require two “equally loving parents” to raise them regardless of the sex of those individuals.

The announcement took place at the Prague Queer Ball where Šlechtová told moderator Lukas Hejlík that not only does she support the LGBT community but that she is, in fact, a part of that community.

A 2012 Fundamental Rights Agency survey on discrimination among 93,000 LGBT people across the European Union found that, compared to the EU average, the Czech Republic was relatively open; some of the data, however, reflected room for improvement.

Forty-three percent of Czech respondents indicated that none or only a few of their family members knew about their sexual orientation.

Only one in five respondents said they were open about their sexual orientation to all their colleagues or classmates. Seventy-one percent of the respondents were selectively open about their orientation at work or school.

Fifty-two percent of gay men and 30% of lesbian women said they avoid holding hands in public outside of gay neighborhoods for fear of being assaulted, threatened or harassed.