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 inaugural Eradicate Hate Summit was a truly impressive gathering of leaders dedicated to finding lasting and effective solutions to violent extremism. I was particularly moved by the prominence given to survivors and family members of victims of hate and violence throughout the event. Their stories and those of so many others must be at the center of what we do and why we do it.
