In middle school, students with a different sexual orientation have few chances to meet other queer people to talk to, and to exchange experiences. That’s why they remain isolated and are prone to depression and crises. We have created an event that could help change that.

The first Afternoon for queer teenagers FILIP20 took place in March 2019, when Filip Havlíček would have celebrated his 20^th birthday. Unfortunately, he committed suicide when he was 14, because he could no longer face the homophobia in the Czech society and decided to draw attention to it by taking his own life. A reaction to Filip’s tragic death was to establish the online LGBT+ counseling service Sbarvouven.cz, which has been working since February 2015. 

Because no one should feel so lonely as Filip felt, we organized a party to mark Filip’s 20^th unfulfilled birthday, offering young LGBT+ people a chance to meet, spend time together, make friends. 

The 2019 event brought together 122 people. Filip’s family came too, including his aunt, the patroness of the the online LGBT+ counseling service Sbarvouven.cz, actress and moderator Ester Janečková, and also the mentors working for Sbarvouven.cz. The event held at Kampus Hybernska included workshops, film projections, exhibitions and the musical performances of Noisy Pots, Pam Rabbit, Matt Pardus and Eva Gadhof, herself a former client of Sbarvouven.cz. The poster for the event was designed by the famous illustrator Eliška Podzimková.

The event was meant to be a one-time affair, but the positive reactions to it made us want to transform it into a tradition. In 2020, FILIP20 was initially programmed for 4 April, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re still working to find a new date.