The second half of November 2022 belonged in the bars and clubs of Prague to the memory of Matúš Horváth and Juraj Vankulich, who were recently brutally murdered in the Tepláreň club in Bratislava. The Prague festival United Islands of Prague therefore joined more than six hundred Slovak organizations and artistic groups as part of the initiative Slovak Thermal Baths and sponsored less than fifteen commemorative events in the capital.
"We were very pleased with the interest of clubs, bars and the artists themselves. In the end, there were thirty performing groups and I am very happy that several thousand people came to the benefit concerts within two weeks. Thanks to the contribution of the United Islands of Prague festival, we sent an important signal to Czech society that we support the fact that all people should have equal rights," says the director of the United Islands of Prague festival Kamila Buráňová, adding that Czech and Slovak society in the past weeks responded to a brutal act of terrorism in which two innocent people were murdered out of hatred for the LGBTQ+ community.
In Prague, for example, Futurum Music Bar, Rock Café, Studio Paměť, U Habásků, Potrů, Kulturní centrum Klubovna, CROSS Club, Café Nona, SWIM, Anežka, club 007, Impact Hub, Paralelní Polis, Café na pól ceste, group Crave participated and also Nerudný fest, which organized the Concert for the Future on Wenceslas Square.
"With the concert, we wanted to show that there are punks and punks who clearly and loudly support the LGBTQ+ community and clearly and loudly condemn the appalling murder of Matúš Horváth and Juraj Vankulič in the Tepláreň bar in Bratislava. Punk was and is about everything possible, but there is definitely no place in it for hatred, racism, sexism and homo/queerphobia," reads the statement of the Holešovice CROSS Club.
"I believe that with our initiative we will be able to move Slovakia in the right direction," adds Michal Kaščák from the Slovak festival Pohoda, which covers and coordinates the entire initiative in Slovakia.
The Slovenská Tepláreň initiative wants to express its sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of Matúš and Juraj, and respect for all those who created an open place for single people to meet in the Tepláreň bar in Bratislava. The Slovak organizers also aim to change the legislation in Slovakia in such a way that the safety of all people is guaranteed without any differences.