“I see nothing wrong with same-sex couples marrying, but when it comes to adoption, the question is whether we can, from an ethical point of view, make decisions about children without their consent. This is a moral and ethical problem that concerns us,” psychotherapist and sociologist Borut S. Pogačnik said about same-sex couples on a recent episode of the show “Topic of the Day” (“Tema dneva”).
Last week, a large rally for families took place in Ljubljana. Despite the rainy weather, several thousand people gathered on Republic Square to clearly reject the undermining of the foundations of the family, the gender theory, and the LGBT propaganda in schools while clearly opposing hatred directed against any social group. In short, it was the biggest rally of its kind ever, but you will not find any reports on it in the dominant media outlets (24ur, POP TV and others) because they did not report on it, and there was also very little reporting done by the national media outlet, even though the latter is obliged by law to report in a balanced manner – but it is in flagrant violation of the law, which is more than obvious.
Sociologist and psychotherapist Borut S. Pogačnik admitted that he was extremely surprised to see that the leading Slovenian newspapers did not report on the rally for families at all. “It was as if the rally had never even happened. When we have events like this, which are linked to a certain group of people – and in this case, we are talking about a rather large group, it is absolutely essential that the media report on it. It is, after all, a matter of fact-finding,” he pointed out. According to Pogačnik, all structures of the population have the right to express their opinions in a cultural manner. “The media should absolutely not sleep on this. This situation is reminiscent of the times before the end of our common state, when the media were almost more open than they are today. I am a bit worried about that,” he said, adding that it was “interesting” how in the past, when there were more rallies, the reporting on them was much more consistent than it is nowadays.
Pogačnik is the editor of the weekly “Sporočevalec” (“Messenger”), which is published both electronically and in print for all those who do not have a computer (the sick, the disabled). “We estimate that the newspaper is read by around 40 thousand readers. We are pluralistic, we have also reported on protests against the previous government, we have given different views on social developments, but we do not lean to the right or to the left,” he said.
The least one would expect for good relations with a neighbouring country is that we congratulate it
Pogačnik also said that he was extremely surprised by what happened in Slovenia after the latest Italian elections. “The voters elected what they elected. After all, in Italy in 1994, they had a government with the same orientation (the Berlusconi government), and Giorgia Meloni [the Italian Prime Minister-elect] was the youngest minister in it, in charge of youth. The least one would expect for good relations with a neighbouring country is that we congratulate it. We need to start at the beginning. Let us now leave behind what somebody once said. Humans have to adapt to certain structures and expectations, but her current social role is completely different from what it was then, when she was a minister,” he stressed, adding that it is essential to realise that her past statements are not statements of the present.
As is well known, in Slovenia, people quickly start calling everyone around them fascists. Let us just remind you of how the media reported on former US President Donald Trump. “We are talking about right-wing and left-wing fascists, but in reality, none of them are real fascists. Nobody is going to go to Rome like Mussolini did 100 years ago,” Pogačnik said, adding that it is a fact that these elections in Italy were democratic. “The majority of voters chose to vote this way. These voters used to vote for the Communists and for the centre parties, but now they have decided to vote for this party because of economic interests alone. They no longer see their position, and it is correct that they have optimistic expectations.”
In the next part of the conversation, Pogačnik said that in 2016, he was one of the people who demanded the resignation of the then-Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities in connection with the case of two boys from Carinthia. “We alerted the public because it was a clear example of how the bureaucracy, or the government, had power and a role in a way that allowed it to put itself above the justice of the children in question.” He said the Constitutional Court had put itself in a role above the rights of children, which is absolutely not good. And regarding the LGBT, Pogačnik stressed that there have always been, are, and always will be persons who have a homosexual orientation. “This cannot be denied. In every society, from ancient Greece onwards, we have witnessed same-sex marriage. To this day, there is no answer as to whether these things are innate or whether they are acquired later on,” he pointed out, adding that since these people are present in our society, they must be taken into account.
“As far as marriage is concerned, I see nothing wrong with same-sex couples marrying, but when it comes to adoption, the question is whether we can, from an ethical point of view, make decisions about children without their consent. This is a moral and ethical problem that concerns us. No one has the answer to this question,” he concluded.
Sara Kovač
