The Greatest Queer Czech: What Are Public Polls Good For?

This year, Prague Pride Festival is running an online poll to find the greatest queer personality in Czech history. But who actually counts as such a figure of our past? What legacy did they leave behind? Can we even reliably determine which historical figures were queer? And what's the point of polls or contests about the greatest personalities in history?

These are among the questions for our guests from Společnost pro queer paměť (Czech Queer Memory Society), which has long worked to preserve and popularize Czech queer history and is behind the preparation of this poll.

You can vote for the Greatest Queer Czech until August 6 in this online form.

The discussion will feature three experts who sat on the panel that selected the 14 historical queer personalities for the poll.

Ladislav Jackson – art and architecture historian, chair of the board of Společnost pro queer paměť. He works as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology. He focuses on queer art and spatiality; in 2024 he published the edited volume Obrazy jiné touhy: Queer umění a vizualita v českých zemích. He contributed to the books Homosexualita v dějinách české kultury and Teplá Praha and has authored numerous exhibitions and publications on queer history, including the Queer Heritage Walk series – guided walks through the queer history of Prague.

Marie Barešová – film historian, curator, and member of the board of Společnost pro queer paměť. She works as curator of oral history at the Czech National Film Archive. She contributed to the books Homosexualita v dějinách české kultury and Teplá Praha. In 2018 she curated the exhibition Teplo domova: queer domesticita v moderní Praze for Společnost pro queer paměť, and in 2023, together with Lukáš Houdek, the exhibition Chuť medu: queer minulost ze sbírek Společnosti pro queer paměť. Alongside this, her project ReKino revives defunct cinemas in the Czech regions.

Moderated by Matěj Forejt – art writer, critic, and curator. He prepares reviews and features on visual art for Czech Radio Vltava and Czech Radio Dvojka. At the Centre for Contemporary Arts Prague he hosts the interview series Art Guide with Matěj Forejt. He is a member of the expert council of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Prague. In 2019 he received the Věra Jirousová Award for young art critics, and in 2022 he was nominated for the Czech-German Journalism Prize. He previously contributed to Prague Pride Festival as curator of the contemporary art exhibition Caution Hot. He will also moderate the discussion about the Greatest Queer Czech.

Admission – free

Accessibility – suitable for teens, wheelchair accessible

Vibe check – seating available, indoor venue

Organized by – Prague Pride Festival Prague Pride Festival showcases queer art, tackles major contemporary issues, and connects queer people with allies and the wider public. Part of the festival program is put together by the organizing team itself; the rest is created by civic and cultural organizations, various collectives, and enthusiastic individuals, all contributing to the largest queer event in the Czech Republic. The theme of Prague Pride Festival 2026 is "Times Are Changing."