Hello Crumpets,
My name is Mathilde, I am 22, and from Denmark. I am a full-time feminist, book-geek, funky socks lover, and aspiring activist. I am also gayer than a group of unicorn swingers at Eurovision.
I have lived in Prague for the last two years, studying International Relations at Anglo-American University, so I know Prague and the queer community quite well. In addition to founding AAU Queer-Club, I am the founder and executive director of Pangea.
Pangea is a feminist & queer non-profit organization operating in Prague.
We meet every other Tuesday evening at 8 to 10 pm at the Prague LGBT+ Centre. Here we take turns presenting and debating feminist issues such as women in war, queer politics, polyamory, ecofeminism etc. We also host and engage in other events such as workshops, poetry evenings, demonstrations, and fundraisers. Everyone is welcome to join (yes, we even let in the scary straight folks.)
Prague is a safe and fun space for queer people.
I have been here for years and I have never experienced any discrimination or homophobia. (And I am clearly gay as hell). I have kissed my girlfriend in public and talked loudly about vibrators on the tram. I am female presenting, however, so I acknowledge it may be different for queer men and trans people.
People in Prague are open-minded but older Czech people (especially older Czech men) are generally not that progressive. (Are they ever?) It will be harder to be trans or a “gay-looking” man (whatever that is) than a gender-queer woman.
There is a long range of spaces for gay men though. Prague has gay cafes, bars, clubs, spas, and fetish hubs. This does sadly not apply for queer women or female presenting people. There are currently no bars or clubs specifically for queer women. I am hoping to change this, however, and am planning on opening a dyke bar and club in fall 2023. Please stop by when we open. ;)
Prague also recently opened its first LGBT+ Centre.
It is open every Thursday (and Tuesday for Pangea) and is general a great space to meet other queer people. Prague also host pride in August every year and have great events like the queer movie festival Mezipatra, weekly drag and burlesque shows, gay Halloween balls, and other gay parties. This makes Prague an entertaining and easy space to be queer in.
Just don’t walk down a small Czech village in full drag – and please don’t cross the border to wave your rainbow flag in Poland. (This will get you into some real trouble for sure.) When you're in the mood to travel and wear your sexy harness or your sparkly-diamond-dragon costume (as we all do from time to time) take the bus to Berlin instead.
Prague is in the centre of Europe and close to all other European capitals. You can go pretty much anywhere with public transport in a matter of hours. This also makes Pride month incredibly fun as you can run the metaphorical Pride Marathon – provided you don’t die from alcohol poisoning or excessive sex (though to be honest, there are worse ways to go).
If you want to learn more about queer Prague, you are welcome to contact me on my Insta: @mathildekjeldbjerg or you can follow Pangea on the Instagram: @pangea_prague.
I hope to see you in Prague.
Gay hugs and banoffee pie,
Mathilde F. Sandahl Kjeldbjerg
(Pronouns: she/her, he/him, they/them, my dragon lord, your majesty).