Trying on “Rose-Colored Glasses”
Czechs and the Sexual Minority
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Homophobia is not widespread in the Czech Republic. Tolerance towards sexual minorities is part of a liberal attitude towards sexuality. This liberal attitude feeds on traditional Czech anticlericalism and advanced secularisation. The church’s moral and sexual-ethical beliefs go largely unheard. Nonetheless, homosexual acts were liable to prosecution until 1961. But under socialism, gay life remained taboo. Only the Velvet Revolution created the conditions that homosexuals needed to speak out openly and stand up for their equal treatment under the law. Today, gays and lesbians have arrived in the midst of Czech society.
(Osteuropa 10/2013, pp. 127–144)