Prague has hit Prague Pride with record support. At the same time, it is not clear how it is created
The Prague City Council, led by Mayor Zdeněk Hřiby (Pirates), has won a record subsidy for this year’s LGBTQ festival in the Prague Pride community. The deputies decided on this last week when voting at 3 o’clock in the morning. Subsidies for the event increase every year and this year participants can count on a million crowns from the city coffers. However, it is currently unclear how the festival will take place and in what format it will be accessible to participants. The exact parameters of the event are not known to the municipality itself, although according to Mayor Hřiby, it is preparing for seventy different events, such as streaming debates or music broadcasts.
The council in particular approved the votes of the Pirates, Prague to itself and the United Forces for Prague smoothly requesting an increase in the contribution to the Prague Pride event. It focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. The proposal for the grant was submitted by the Committee on Culture and Tourism under the leadership of Councilor Hana Třeštíková (Prague Sobě) and the council approved it on 22 May.
“The organizers of the Prague Pride festival applied for the subsidy at the beginning of the year, before the outbreak of the pandemic. It is up to them how the current situations are dealt with. The money provided must be consistently accounted for under the subsidy rules if the money is not used in accordance with the original, but will have to be returned, “Třeštíková told Echo24, adding that this is an important event for the city, which lasts a week. The reason for the increase in support was also that this is the tenth year, which is to take place from Monday 3 August to Sunday 9 August 2020.
The municipality has recently been very accommodating to the organizers. In 2017, the grant reached more than 200,000 crowns. The following year, it increased to 388 thousand crowns, with a turning point in the following years. In 2019, Prague donated 800 thousand crowns to the festival together with a 100 thousand contribution, and this year it is expected to equal one million crowns.
Issuing record amounts for the festival currently comes a bit strange to opposition representatives. “I do not protest that Prague Pride is receiving something. The contrast is the fact that I have been constantly increasing in recent years, even though if it is demonstrably the highest this year, the event will be demonstrably the smallest. This is logical from the point of view of closing borders, restricting foreign entry or limiting the number of people in one place. It is therefore a matter of advance that this will be the lowest visit and at the same time the largest subsidy, “Patrik Nacher (YES) told Echo24.
Nacher is also annoyed that financial support has always been handled through a grant procedure in recent years. But now the council has pushed through an individual subsidy, which he said should only be granted in exceptional cases. “The next moment is that it’s a disrespect for the taxpayers’ money, because he didn’t get on the program until 3 o’clock in the morning,” Nacher said. Together with the head of the Prague ODS, Tomáš Portlík, he proposed that part of the money be given to the non-profit organization Kverulant. However, they did not succeed with the coalition.
According to Portlík, the city should rather save money, because they will be needed after the coronavirus crisis. “It bothers me that at a time when spending should be reduced and public budgets should be saved, money is being distributed. When there was a meeting of Harleys in Prague, which is ruled by the then mayor Adriana Krnáčová, we heard a lot of speeches at the founding council on how they will not tolerate similar events, especially under the auspices of Prague, “Portlík told Echo24.
But Mayor Hřib defends the post. Although no one yet knows how the festival will take place and under what conditions. “The rainbow parade will not take place this year in the format we have been used to in recent years due to coronavirus. Even so, it will offer about 70 events, such as community picnics, streamed debates, or music broadcasts. In recent years, it has also been about services, HIV testing, educational events, or panel discussions on the topic of comingout. In addition, it will celebrate ten years of operation this year. The subsidies provided are subject to strict billing and, if the funds are not supplemented to the original plans, will be returned in proportion to the budget of the City of Prague. In society, we still encounter xenophobia against different sexual orientations, which can lead people to states of severe psychological deprivation and even threaten suicide, as was the case in the media-covered nephew of actress Ester Janečková. I really appreciate the company’s education in this area on the part of the Prague Pride organizers, “Hřib told Echo24.
The planned costs of the project for this year are stated by the organizers in a total of 4.5 million crowns. Therefore, Prague will contribute more than one-fifth financially to the festival. According to the organizers, up to 75,000 participants took part in last year, and about 40,000 individuals took part in the parade of the metropolis. The festival is to contribute to the popularization of Prague as a destination for gay and lesbian tourists. Prague Pride is one of the largest events of its kind in post-communist countries.