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Current AffairsControversy over Prague’s first gay and lesbian pride parade escalates

08-08-2011 14:59 | Sarah Borufka

With two more days left to go before it begins, the gay and lesbian community’s Prague Pride festival has stirred up considerable controversy. The event, held under the auspices of Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda, has come under fire from public figures such as the head of the ultra-conservative Civic Initiative D.O.S.T. Ladislav Bátora, the controversial presidential aide Petr Hájek, and even the president himself. More

Current AffairsFive years since same-sex registered partnership was introduced activists say bill didn’t go far enough

28-07-2011 16:02 | Jan Velinger

It has been five years since the bill on registered partnership between gay couples came into force in the Czech Republic. During the period, more than 1,200 gay and lesbian couples in the country formed civil unions. While most within the gay community welcomed the original legislation as an important milestone, many still feel it didn’t go far enough as it failed to recognise gay marriage or adoption rights. Radio Prague spoke to Zdeněk Sloboda, a representative of PROUD, a Czech initiative promoting human rights.  More

Current AffairsEU criticizes degrading practice of sexual arousal testing for asylum seekers in Czech Republic

18-05-2011 14:48 | Sarah Borufka

Phallometric testing appliance The EU Home Affairs Commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom, has severely criticized the Czech Republic’s use of sexual arousal testing to ascertain whether men who seek asylum on the grounds that they are gay are actually homosexual. She said on Tuesday that this treatment was degrading and interfered with the person’s human dignity. The EU this week sent another warning to Prague, stating that 'concerns still remain' about phallometric tests, which appear to breach the union's Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The procedure, which involves the measuring of the applicant’s penis’ blood flow while being shown pornographic films, has also come under fire from Czech NGOs dealing with asylum seekers’ rights. I spoke to Magda Faltová of the Prague-based Association for Integration and Migration about the issue and started by asking her how long this form of testing had been in use. More

Current AffairsEU says Czech “sexual arousal” test for gay asylum seekers could violate human rights convention

09-12-2010 16:30 | Ian Willoughby, Alexis Rosenzweig

Illustrative photo: European Commission The European Union’s top human rights agency has criticised the Czech Republic over a procedure aimed at ascertaining whether men who seek asylum on the grounds that they are gay are actually homosexual. The EU says the “sexual arousal” test could violate its convention on human rights. More

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