What does it mean to be queer in a city located in the heart of central Europe? Many current NYU Prague students found themselves looking up whether Prague was safe for queer people before applying to study abroad here. The internet overwhelmingly said yes and living in Prague has confirmed that.
But students also wonder how professors would react to their queer identities and if they would be able to find a queer community here.
A FAMU student, who preferred to remain unnamed, is working as a producer on an upcoming LGBT+ film. Initially worried about their professor’s reaction to the topic, they found themself pleasantly surprised.
“They didn’t even blink and immediately continued with the typical pre-production process,” they said.
However they did notice a slight difference from average New York professors: “they sometimes have trouble with specific terminology, but were overall so accepting of their idea that it doesn’t seem intentionally insulting.”
Many students feel safe expressing their queer identities in class but are unsure of how to find community in Prague. Head of the LGBT club at NYU Prague, RA Michelle, explains that the easiest way to find a queer community here is to meet people at events. From organizing queer movie nights to drag shows and upcoming karaoke events, she makes it easy for students to connect to the LGBT+ community here. Though she warns, “it’s probably harder here than in New York, because the queer community here isn’t as visible as it is somewhere else.”
Surprisingly, the study abroad community has a huge amount of queer (mainly) American students. Though, as Michelle says, Prague’s queer scene exists a little beneath the surface. LGBT+ students may need to go out of their way to find a community in Prague as opposed to a more readily accessible one in New York.
“It’s not hard to be queer here but it’s hard to find the community,” she said. “But once you find it, that’s it. Those are going to probably be your friends for life.”
Sent out in NYU Prague’s Sunday Scoop, the LGBT+ club’s sponsored event brought students to a Halloween drag show earlier this month— spots instantly filled up. The goth themed show encouraged attendees to dress in black. NYU students took that to heart, planning a group shopping trip to buy outfits for the event. The entire audience was dressed up, fully immersed in the show.
RA Michelle’s advice rang true as this show was the perfect spot for many queer students to further connect with a community in Prague. NYU Prague student Edie Paczkowski said the event “led to lots of us chatting with the queens and other community members after the show.”
After interacting with many members of the community, students found themselves getting more and more invitations to queer events. Almost like a secret society, you definitely need an in to fully experience LGBT+ life in Prague. Luckily, NYU Prague’s RA-lead LGBT+ club has got you covered!
By Savannah Prager