Roman Samotný
Director, Queer Slovakia/Tepláreň
2023
Roman has studied journalism at the Comenius University in Bratislava. During his studies, as well as after he graduated from the University, he has been working as a screenwriter and dramaturge for various media. From 2010 he is a co-organizer of the The Slovak Queer Film Festival. He is the founder of the Queer Slovakia, which is a platform producing queer parties and music events, as well as an online magazine. A part of the platform is also Tepláreň, which first started off as a party back in 2012, it later became also a bar bearing the same name. However, the bar closed after a terrorist attack in 2022 and transformed into an educational and community space. Nowadays, Roman concentrates mainly on the speaker’s role for the initiative Our life’s are at stake and the initiative Inakosť.
At the Summit
The catalytic power of this Summit in bringing together those who are devoting their lives to pushing back and working to confront, understand and work towards solutions around hate in our society is a noble and difficult task. The Summit not only energized those who attended but led to connecting the dots in a global network of those doing this work. The stories of the victims of hate were painful to witness but their courage in coming forward was inspirational. Those who attended left energized with the hope that by working together solutions can be forged.
