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Transphobia in Eastern Europe — How I Deal With It
I lived in Montreal, Canada, from September 2022 to April 2023. Before that, I briefly lived in Warsaw, Poland, for the summer of 2022.
For much of my life, I lived in Canada and Slovakia, however. And I have noticed some interesting differences, to say the least.
In late May, I made my way back to Slovakia to attend the GLOBSEC 2023 Forum, where I had the pleasure of attending some speeches, such as a speech by the French President, Emmanuel Macron.
Over the course of June, I was reminded of the extreme views in Eastern Europe. People are very eager to talk to me about trans rights and same-sex parenting, for example.
So, I thought I’d outline some of the conversations I’ve had for you on my blog.
Most of the conversations I have with people here in Slovakia and the Czech Republic (the two countries I am primarily in), are about politics.
In Slovakia, important parliamentary elections are coming up in September 2023, where the fate of Slovakia’s weakening democracy seems to be at stake. It is very likely that the oligarch and ex-PM, Robert Fico, will return at the helm of his SMER party, despite clear ties to organized crime and even the murder of the investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiance, Martina Kusnirova.
