On Tuesday, the largest rally for the protection of children and families in the history of our country took place in front of the National Assembly, on the Republic Square in Ljubljana. Aleš Primc, the main organiser of the rally, encouraged Slovenians to support the rally and thus show that they respect motherhood and fatherhood. At the beginning of the rally, our national anthem, Zdravljica, was sung by Nada Žgur. “We expect to be listened to and to be heard,” said Primc, adding that the rally brought together people from all over Slovenia.
“It is clear to Christians and to all people who respect nature and understand the needs of the child that the introduction of such changes to family-related legislation is inappropriate, harmful and dangerous,” said Aleš Primc, who urged people to publicly show their disagreement with the changes. This week, the National Assembly will discuss the controversial amendments to the Family Code, which undermine the fundamental human rights of the children, and which have already been overwhelmingly rejected by citizens of Slovenia in three different Family Code-related referendums – in 2001, 2012 and 2015. The new Family Code would also legalise the adoption of children by homosexual couples.
The government of Robert Golob wants to legalise the adoption of children for LGBT couples, to abolish the idea of marriage as the union of a husband and a wife, and establish a legal basis for the introduction of the LGBTQIA+ ideology in kindergartens and schools. The participants of the rally are against the introduction of this dangerous ideology in kindergartens and schools! They came to the rally to show their disagreement. Metka Zevnik, who, alongside Aleš Primc, is the voice of the Coalition “It’s About the Children!” (“Za otroke gre!”), stressed that the family is in her heart; she fought for it in two family referendums and will fight for it again in the next one – not alone, but with all those present and with many others who were not at the rally on Tuesday. Adoptions of grandchildren are not allowed under this law, Zevnik warned, adding that it was Luka Mesec, the Coordinator of the Left party (Levica) and Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunity, who drafted the amendments. Despite the fact that a majority of Slovenians rejected these ideas in the past referendums.
But where is this attack on a tradition that spans thousands of years coming from? Where did it start? The new left has exchanged the Marxism of the old left for a moral-cultural ideology. They have moved from the factories to the schools, to the theatres, the so-called culture and the media. “The new left has attacked the family and morality. Fotopub is a crystal image and a mirror of this degenerate ideology and immorality,” Zevnik stressed, drawing many shouts of support and, at the same time – due to the mention of Fotopub – disgust from the people gathered at the rally.
“A rally in support of the repeatedly expressed will of the people. Against the adoption of children by same-sex couples, against the LGBTQIA+ education of our grandchildren in schools, and above all, against the platitudes about this community being deprivileged. It already controls almost all the levers of power in Brussels, as well as at home,” the former Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, wrote on Twitter, adding the hashtag “#supraparty.” Unfortunately, the weekly Demokracija also reported about some opponents disrupting the rally.
Primc then also invited all those gathered at the rally to the March for Life, which will take place on the 1st of October, under the motto “Equality begins before birth.” Primc pointed out that Tuesday’s rally had been attended in large numbers, mainly because of the love for children that the people gathered there have. He also stressed that it was not about hatred of any group of people – even though they are repeatedly being accused of just that. “Do not lie; we do not hate anyone. We are people of love. Mothers and fathers are people of love,” he said, adding that the love of mothers and fathers is the greatest force in this world. Primc expressed his astonishment at the fact that the government believes it can destroy this love. We have been fighting for more than 20 years against this – namely, the first family referendum happened in 2001. Primc congratulated everyone for the three victories in the family referendums and said that they would not let the government destroy what they stand for now. Because this is about our children and our grandchildren – and that is when Slovenians come together. “You don’t have time for your own family, but you do have time to destroy our families,” Primc went on to reproach Mesec, for whom he said that he is like a fox in a henhouse in his role as a minister.
Primc then also pointed out the fact that the amended Family Code represents a complete devaluation of children, as it shows that the direction of the free trade in children is moving in the direction of making children a commodity. If the law is adopted, the collection of signatures for a referendum initiative will start immediately.
Sara Kovač
