"Queer people suffer not because they are queer, but because society judges them for it," says Andrea Stašek of Q-Hub, which builds support groups and safe spaces for LGBT people
Andrea Stašek is one of the people who have been connecting academic research with practical support for the queer community in the Czech Republic for a long time. She works at the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University, where she focuses on queer psychology and health, and also heads the Q-Hub, a Brno-based organization focused on queer mental health, educating the public and professionals, and creating a safe space for sharing and community support. She is also the principal investigator of the Queer Health Project, which has produced one of the most significant domestic reports on the health of LGBTQ+ people in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The Q-Hub was created not just as another non-profit initiative, but as a response to a clear gap: the lack of data-driven information, professional facilities, and concrete forms of support for people who often face loneliness, misunderstanding, or lack of safe spaces. In the following interview, Andrea Stasek discusses why it is important to talk about queer mental health without oversimplification, what role community groups play today, and why real change can happen not only within a community, but also in the society around it.
Today, Q-Hub acts as an organization that connects support groups, education, public debates, and queer mental health issues. Going back to the beginning, what was the main reason for its creation and what was the gap in the Czech environment you wanted to address at the time?
We started as a professional blog and organizers of lectures and seminars. Later, support groups were added. From my point of view, at that time there was a lack of data-driven resources for experts* and the general public. Having been a long-time faculty member at MUNI's FSS Institute for Psychological Research and teaching in the Psychology Department there, I know that our undergraduate students are very interested in queer psychology and want to do affirmative practice.
They also excel at working critically with sources. So I put out a call, several people signed up, and we started building a blog. At the same time, we started hosting debates at FSS on various topics - sexual violence, open relationships, asexuality, trans care, etc. Many events were held in Prague, but Brno was just starting to wake up at that time. It's only been a few years, and it's clear that our activity and the activity of others has got Brno moving.
You yourself are the head of Q-Hub, but you have also been involved in the professional and research environment for a long time. How do these two levels connect in your work and why did it make sense to you to create a real space for community support alongside data and research?
The connection is kind of necessary but also pragmatic from my perspective. So on the one hand, I'm not just able to sit at a desk and write scholarly articles - I also want to create something more visible that has meaning and impact. I then see the impact not only with the public, who have the opportunity to find good information on our website, or with the support group participants - even the Q-Hub membership has had the opportunity to develop since the beginning. Because of what we have built, many of us have had our first taste of organizing events, coordinating a project, doing marketing, fundraising, etc. Of course we "pay" for this with our time, but Q-Hub is built on the premise that whoever has the time puts their hand up and when no one (including me) has the time, Q-Hub kind of sleeps.
The pragmatic reason for linking community activity and research, then, is that if you want to learn something from queer people - like how they are, what their needs are, how they are doing, etc - you have to have their trust. You certainly don't need to be queer either (and many of my colleagues* aren't), but by making collaborations with other organizations. People know that I'm not just a "curious" person who will ask them intimate questions, but a person who wants to show real data about real queer people to the public, organizations, and politicians. My first project, Queer Health, became the largest survey of queer adults in the country to date because of this built trust. We can then apply the knowledge from the data, and ultimately not just Czech data, in support groups and in passing on the know-how to other organizations.
If you were to introduce Q-Hub today to someone who has never heard of it, what would you say is its most important role? Is it mainly a safe space for queer people, educating the public, working with experts, or a combination of all of these?
Q-Hub is an organization that seeks to promote the health of queer people in the Czech Republic, both through making data-driven information available and through direct support work. We know from the fields of public health, epidemiology, and health psychology that it's not enough to just push the system at one level - like just creating materials for everyday queer people. The ideal is to work on different parts of the system - on the policy level, on the professional level, on the public, on queer people themselves. Doing prevention and intervention. That's such a reasonable explanation - but maybe it's also because we have so many ideas and visions and sometimes it's hard to choose. So we're a little bit wide-ranging.
One of the key parts of your work is Q-Groups, which are support meetings for people who are dealing with issues around sexual, gender or relationship identity. What was the idea behind setting them up, and what was the most important thing to set up from the beginning to really help people?
The moment of setting up the groups depended on several things: firstly, there was no systematic service of this kind in Brno. Some associations and informal groups were organizing various meetings, mostly of a purely community type, and we wanted to offer more - something similar to sbarvouven.cz. Secondly, we had been around long enough for people to know and trust us. It also has to do with whether we are able to promote the groups enough - like how many people follow us. Third, I already had enough friends in Brno who are psychologists in practice or in similar positions. We don't offer medical or psychotherapeutic care, but from my point of view it is essential to have enough know-how and experience to make the groups safe for everyone. Fourthly, money, without which nothing can be done.
Thanks to my accumulated experience and contacts, I was able to apply for support from Pride Business Forum for the first groups. These have served to fine tune what is needed and get things off the ground in 2026. For groups, from my perspective, it is essential to set up a clear and understandable system - when, where, how, who, for whom. Then there is the issue of ethics and safety - clear rules and criteria on the website and at the first meeting, trained facilitators*, peer-to-peer interviewing. After that, we need to run everything and see what works and what doesn't.
With Q-Groups, you also make it clear that it's not about therapy, it's about community support and sharing. How did you think about that boundary and why do you think it's important to name it externally?
The boundary is not set in stone in any way, nor can it be. To put it in words, even a friend who listens to you is de facto giving you care, albeit informally. But we don't want people to seek care from us that should be provided by a psychotherapist, psychologist or health professional (e.g. a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist). As a registered association we cannot provide such care and our facilitators* also do not all have the training required to do so. Although the Czech Republic is facing a crisis of access to psychological and psychiatric care, Q-Hub has tried not to pimp something that is even rarer - an informal form of community support that is somewhere between a chat over a beer and a psychotherapy session.
Since queer people are extremely vulnerable to loneliness (which the World Health Organization considers one of the biggest health threats of our time), we wanted to help through organizing and facilitating groups where people can meet and make friends. We help the groups to create a common chat and we know that most continue to meet after the groups. That is the main purpose of the groups. Therefore, we must also ask in the initial questionnaire how long it has been since the last potentially serious event such as psychosis or suicide attempt. If a person experiencing an acute crisis were to come to a group, it would be very challenging to keep everyone safe, including that person. However, we can pass on to everyone the contacts of services and individual professionals*from Brno.
When people come to your groups nowadays, what are the most common issues they face? Is it still mainly coming out and self-acceptance issues, or have the needs of queer people moved on in recent years?
It depends on the topic of the group - our groups tend to have identity (queer women, for example) or experiential (coming out and finding yourself) themes. In general, though, it's often people who have few other queer people around them and so have no one to talk to not only about coming out, but also about gay hockey romance, for example. Of course they'll never all get along and they won't all hit it off, but we have something in common, and it helps not to feel alone. So there are those with us who need to discuss more challenging things, and then there are those who aren't really dealing with anything but want to meet or maybe just help others.
I feel like a lot of the public debate used to be about "admitting identity" itself, whereas nowadays there is more and more talk about loneliness, relationships, mental fatigue, work environments, or finding community. Do you see a similar shift in people seeking out Q-Groups?
I'd like to say that people are less afraid of coming out today or that society is more accepting, but I don't get that feeling. The data has also been fundamentally stagnant for some time (for example, on the view of marriage for all), and on some topics we are now experiencing the so-called backlash - that is, the negative blowback that occurs at the beginning of outreach. This is now being experienced mainly by gender diverse people. Trans* issues are more visible, but the public hasn't got used to it yet. At the same time, gay and lesbian people are no longer having an easy time either.
For example, gays and lesbians are probably at least at risk of depression, but the "least" is still 30%, which is about double the risk of heterosexual people of the same age in the Czech Republic. For asexual and gender diverse people, we're talking about half who are probably at or beyond the edge of diagnosis. This is primarily due to low support from those around us, which brings us back to awareness. Most ordinary people have not heard of asexuality or have heard myths about it. The lack of social support was then accurately demonstrated in one of our groups where asexual people were just that. It was their first time meeting someone else on the asexual spectrum and it was already very supportive for them.
You can see on the Q-Hub website that you're opening up more specific circles alongside the more general groups, like for non-binary people, for people who are studying or for working life. What does this greater thematic diversity tell you about how the queer experience is changing in the Czech Republic?
I'm not sure how to answer this. But anyway, we know that, for example, most people with a non-heterosexual orientation identify as bisexual, which often surprises the public who think that not being straight means being gay/lesbian. It is likely to be similar in the future with non-binarity, as foreign research suggests. Freedom opens up and transcends boxes. The younger generation, who are more likely to seek out our groups because middle-aged queer people have often already established some sort of neighborhood, have a different perspective on sexuality and gender, and our categories have grown. Plus, everything is a spectrum, and so we can kind of come to see the person, the individual, the unique "box." We try to respond to the most pressing needs, so for example we offered a group for asexual people before we offered one for gay people, even though it's a theoretically smaller population. But we filled the group easily.
What has surprised you most about the way Q-Groups have operated in recent years? Perhaps a recurring theme that isn't so visible from the outside, but comes up again and again in the safe space?
Personally, I guess I'm still surprised by how many myths circulate among people. I guess everything can never be sufficiently debunked, especially when anti-queer organizations receive massive amounts of money to handle professional lobbying and advocacy as well as to pay enough bots to spread misinformation and fear on the networks. Queer organizations, by contrast, are mostly volunteers who spend their free time supporting communities. Sometimes at the expense of their own thriving. Few organizations that support queer people have professional backgrounds and enough money. And the state in the Czech Republic supports the non-profit sector so poorly that I can't even explain it much abroad.
The topic of mental health comes up strongly in your work. Moving from public debates to everyday life, how do you think it is most inscribed in the psyche of queer people that they often live in an environment where they have to explain themselves, be on guard, or count on being misunderstood?
It's absolutely fundamental and the main reason why queer people are worse off on average than others. We know for a fact that identity itself is overwhelmingly not the problem - the one exception, which is also not directly about identity, is body dysphoria in gender diverse people, for example. There, of course, part of the distress comes from the mismatch between inner experience and the body. But what is crucial is how society, including those close to the person, accepts the person. We know that in cultures where people did not condemn homosexuality or gender diversity, such people were naturally better off. So queer people don't suffer more depression because they are queer, but because society judges them for it.
It's the same for other minorities. It's just been clear for a long time, from foreign and Czech data, that someone who has accepting parents is many times more likely to not attempt suicide, not have depression or anxiety, not have somatic problems, etc. Health is then linked to normal functioning, and so by thriving well, people can perform better at school or work. Man is a bit of a system in this and everything is related to everything. But the mechanisms are the same for all people - people who had a challenging childhood because of an unaccepting family have a higher chance of various health and other obstacles.
There's always a perception in society that queer people have enough space already and that their difficulties are sometimes exaggerated. Why do you think it's important to explain over and over again that it's not about hypersensitivity, but about the real effects of stigma on health, relationships and everyday functioning?
I find it almost funny how this myth is successfully circulated in society. Queer people don't have a representative space even remotely. If that were the case, then they would make up at least 10% in parliament, 10% with all managers, mayors, 10% of characters in movies and TV shows, 10% of your superiors, 10% of teachers and doctors, 10% of journalists... I find it funny because those who feel like they see queer themes everywhere probably do see them a lot, they just don't realize why.
Because they do respond to that kind of content on the internet - either because it pisses them off or they're genuinely interested in it, but they have internalized homophobia. If you let the algorithms know through simple clicking and pausing over rainbow posts that it's doing something to you, the algorithm will show you more often. With great exaggeration - if you see a lot of rainbows, you're gay or homophobic. This is where media awareness would probably be helpful. Then there's the nice psychological effect of salience. Things that are salient are selectively remembered more.
The online space also plays into all of this significantly today, where queer people are often subjected to hate, belittling, or permanent commentary on their own existence. How strongly do you think this daily burden inscribes itself into what people come to support groups with?
The online space offers anonymity that allows for cruelty and is therefore only for the hardened. Yet we are almost all online. Queer people are more likely to be shown by the online space to be worse than others because people behind the screens write things they would never say to their faces. The online space is also huge and overwhelms us. An overwhelmed younger generation is beginning to question how much they actually want to be online, and experts are figuring out how to tame the tech's insatiable giants. So online aggression is a big problem, and part of the reason we do groups primarily offline - there is simply no substitute for face-to-face contact. Indeed, we as a humanity currently have the impression that we are constantly connected, yet increasingly lonely. We spend more time online and less time together around a table. So we want to encourage queer people to actually meet each other, to talk to each other, and to plan trips and other activities together, for example.
But Q-Hub doesn't just speak to the community itself, it also tries to educate the public and professionals, from psychologists and therapists to schools and other institutions. Why do you think it's important to not just stop at supporting queer people, but to change the environment around them as well?
Because queer people are not the problem that needs to be solved. It's a problem of society and the system. So it's crucial to not only help queer people with current barriers, but to invest capacity in long-term changes - in awareness, in laws, in access to care. Countries to the west and north of us, for example, understood this a long time ago and have invested a lot of resources in state organizations and non-profits to make sure that the minimum 10% of the population is better off.
Queer people are ordinary people who work, pay taxes and can really contribute to society. Of course that makes sense economically, you don't even have to have empathy. The problem is that some organizations, on the other hand, find it more (economically) advantageous to rail against queer people. That's how it felt to the Nazis, who rode the wave of hate against various minorities and groups. But we know how that turned out. That's why it's good to invest capacity in education. A more educated society will not get drunk on donuts or internal combustion engines.
When you meet with professionals and institutions today, where do you think you still encounter the greatest misunderstanding? Is the problem more in prejudice, in ignorance, or is it that many people still see queer issues as something peripheral that doesn't concern them?
The biggest problem from my perspective is ignorance and an overload of expert*women. Most of them aren't evil or downright prejudiced, but they haven't had the opportunity to educate themselves about queer people and they really don't have the time or finances for extra education when they have a full time job and a family. I meet with people in psychology practice often, and I'm interested in the situation in medical settings and schools. Only a handful have had the opportunity to educate themselves on LGBTQ+ issues in preparation for employment. I am happy that, for example, queer psychology courses are already in the curriculum of most leading Czech psychology departments, but that is such a minimum.
You don't systematically encounter these topics in psychotherapy training anymore, nor in medical school. This needs to be shifted. The great thing at the same time is that professionals*ice are really interested in this. The state literally didn't give a shit about the topic, so these institutions started turning to non-state organizations to train them themselves. So at this point, the state should not just leave it up to the non-profits and volunteers, but put its hand to work. At least financially. For example, the existence of our groups is completely dependent on constant fundraising.
I don't want our facilitators* to give their time for free, so I'm constantly figuring out where to get the money. It's so challenging at the moment that I can't even guarantee that we will continue in 2027, even though we have built a working system, there is interest in the groups and we even have a surplus of facilitator*s. But I don't know how many crowdfunding campaigns and fundraisers we can do. Personally, Q-Hub has cost me most of my free time in the last six months, and many of my colleagues* as well. We have good results, but without systematic support it can't be sustained for long.
If, after reading the interview, a LUI reader felt personally touched by these issues - whether he or she is looking for support, wants to get involved, or just wants to understand better - what are the specific options today? How can he or she join Q-Hub activities or take a first step toward reaching out to themselves and the community?
The best thing to do is to look around and see if there is a queer group or organization meeting nearby. There are also different communities online, for example QTY.cz has many activities for young people - meetings and playing online video games together. I think the key to this is to get over that first shame and fear and just go to an event. You can tell a good event by the fact that it's inclusive even to shy people. Plusk, QTY.cz, Prague Pride at the Community Center in Prague, Oasis in Olomouc, and certainly many others that I haven't had the opportunity to meet or work with yet. So don't be afraid to write to groups or associations or just show up somewhere where there will be other people. Even if not at the first meeting, at the next ones you'll be talking to someone. And that will do a lot.
