"It's a historic achievement." The lesbian and gay marriage petition was signed by 68,000 people<

"It is a great success - not only LGBT community, but civil society, tolerance, freedom - the Czech public seems ready for the change that we really belong to the West," commented Czeslaw Walek, head of the We Are Fair campaign, which organized the petition. . Originally, they planned to collect 50,000 signatures by May 1. The petition was eventually signed by 68,000 people.

Just for comparison, last year's largest petition calling for a ban on fur farming was signed by almost 47,000 people. And 68,000 signatures represent the sum of signatures from all petitions that arrived in the House in the first half of 2017.

"The important thing is that it is a paper petition - electronic ones are often more successful because they spread faster, just a few clicks and it is completed. The paper petition requires real determination - and many Czechs had it, "Walek pointed out.

The petition was also signed in large numbers by heterosexuals, the organizers are pleased

He is also pleased that it was not just the voices from the LGBT community itself, but that a number of heterosexuals also signed the petition. "It's not the voice of the gay and lesbian community, but the voice of people who see the rights of any minority as important, they understand that by signing, they show their civic stance," he added. The support was also known in the cover letters that came to the campaign office together with the petition sheets from approximately 220 petition places across the country.

In addition, many letters show that many people tried to help at least with a sheet of friends' signatures. "Dear coalition for marriage, here I am sending you my seven signatures, which I obtained. Somehow I hoped that I would fill the entire sheet, but I am definitely not disappointed, "wrote a woman from Moravské Budějovice, for example, adding that she, like most of her friends, signed the petition before she printed her own sheet.

"This petition was supported by about 60 percent of my school, both students and the majority of the teaching staff," wrote Leoš, who contributed 324 signatures, to the We Are Fair office. According to the organizers, a number of similar letters arrived, and sometimes it was said that they could barely keep up with the tears.

The signed sheets were worn by people at the last minute and in person

The last Monday in April was especially touching for Czeslaw Walk, when people from Prague also came to the office, who were afraid that they would no longer be able to send the petition sheets by post. "The lady who had a petition with six signatures for the whole family called, a young man who is studying in Prague brought twenty signed sheets from Ostrava, people wrote to us if they should send their preciously collected signatures as valuable writing so that the post office would not lose them, Walek recalls the hectic period of the first days of the census.

He added that this is why he and the other people in the We Are Fair campaign are grateful for every single signature. According to him, many people had a "simple" job when they presented the petition to like-minded people around them. "On the other hand, the individual signatures, preceded by a long discussion with family or friends, finding information, there is a real interest in the problem - and even though the weight of one and the other signature is the same, the effort behind them is incomparable," he thinks. Walek.

The petition was also supported by celebrities

In addition, support and congratulations came from well-known people. One of them was Marek Hilšer, a presidential candidate who tested for himself how difficult it is to get 50,000 signatures. "I see the effort to equalize relationships between people of the same sexual orientation as a natural human desire for justice. This can never be killed, "he told the team We Are Fair.

He added that equal treatment would sooner or later find its way and that he himself saw no reason why gays and lesbians should be prevented from fully regulating their relationships. "After all, in the end, it is a matter of not being discriminated against in the effort to show mutual love, respect and loyalty in times of good and bad," he added at the end of his congratulations.

Another goal is now the Chamber of Deputies, to which activists would like to receive an amendment to the Marriage Act, which would allow same-sex couples to join. "Across Western Europe (including Catholic Spain), marriage for gay and lesbian couples is already valid," Walek said. Even so, the Czechia could have one priority. We could be the first post-communist country to have a marriage for everyone. "Even though the road ahead is still long," admits the head of We Are Fair.

Three-quarters of Czechs support equal marriage

"In any case, we must convince the legislator, the public is already on our side," he adds. In addition to the petition, the latest opinion polls prove this. According to the latter, even 75 percent of the Czech population is in favor of equal marriage conditions.

Walek adds that there is nothing to worry about, there has been no problem in any country where marriage has been enacted for all. "Britain, on the other hand, has even reported a decline in young people's suicides, which some sociologists have linked to the enactment of marriage and an increase in tolerance of the LGBT minority, which went hand in hand with the marriage debate," he said.

There are 82 fair deputies sitting in the Chamber of Deputies, and activists believe that they will convince others as well

However, activists may be close to negotiating support for a change in the law. Even before the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the We Are Fair campaign found out how individual political parties and their candidates approach the issue of gay and lesbian rights. As a result, 82 fair deputies sat on the seats.

"It happens, and it's no exception, that we meet an MP who is against marriage at first, but they still accept us and listen to us - and wonder how it is in the West, they sincerely regret the problems that gays have to and deal with lesbians on a daily basis, only in conversation with us do they realize how insufficient the law on registered partnerships is, ”adds Walek. According to him, these are the moments when his team sees the meaning of their work the most.