Thousands of people gathered at a vigil in Slovakia on Friday to commemorate two people killed outside a gay bar.
The men were shot dead in the capital Bratislava on Wednesday, in a suspected hate crime.
Organisers estimated that 20,000 people took part in the vigil, mourning the men’s deaths and demanding action on LGBT rights.
Slovak President Zuzana Caputova, who has raised the rainbow flag over her office, spoke at the event.
“I’m sorry that our society was not able to protect your loved ones,” she said.
“You belong here, you are valuable for our society.”
Prime Minister Eduard Heger was also at the vigil, organised by the Inakosť (Otherness) Institute, an LGBT advocacy group.
Slovakia’s National Crime Agency has classified the shootings as premeditated murder, motivated by hatred of a sexual minority.
It has sparked calls for more protection of LGBT people in Slovakia, a relatively conservative EU country where same-sex marriage is not legal.
The BBC’s Rob Cameron, in…
This article was written by and originally published on www.bbc.co.uk