EFHR is participating in the festival of discussions “Būtent!” Once again!

For the third year in a row, people will gather in the festival of discussions “Būtent!” (“Makes sense!”), which takes place September 6-7, 2019 in Birštonas, to discuss the topics that are important to the society. Same as last year, the organizers have announced an open contest for the discussion topics and out of 80 suggestions received, 25 topics will be discussed in this year’s festival. According to the organizers of the festival, topics connected to education, equal opportunities, ecology, emotional health, new technologies and their development were the most prominent this year.

One of the selected topics was suggested by the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR). The lawyer Evelina Dobrovolska will moderate the discussion called “Black-skinned gay Romani, or what stereotypes do we follow?”. During the discussion, the participants will share what does it mean not to be a white heterosexual man, i.e., alpha male, and together with the spectators will try to answer various questions such as: is the society becoming tolerant? Or perhaps this issue has nothing to do with tolerance? The list of the discussion participants will be announced soon.

It‘s not the first discussion in the festival “Būtent!” moderated by the EFHR. Last year Rajmund Klonowski, a journalist, Audrys Antanaitis from the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language, Mark Adam Harold, a former member of the Council of Vilnius City Municipality, and Vytautas Sinica, a political scientist, all shared their opinions in the discussion “Lithuanian language – an idolized relict or a live instrument?”. Questions from the audience, related to the spelling of national minorities‘ personal names and the issue of public signs – must we really mark places and services only in Lithuanian? – allowed to disclose the topic quite extensively. You can find more about the discussion and its record with subtitles on our website.

We invite everyone to mark September 6-7 in the calendar and to meet in Birštonas, where we will be discussing stereotypes. The lawyers of EFHR will participate on both days, so if anyone wishes to get free legal advice concerning discrimination, hate crimes and national minorities, they are welcome to ask directly during the festival.

See you at the festival “Būtent!”