EDGE: Serbia Vows To Protect Gay Pride Marchers

In some respects, Serbia is more progressive than the United States in terms of GLBT equality. Unlike the U.S., where no federal protections are extended to GLBT citizens, Serbia has inclusive anti-discrimination protections in place.

In other respects, too, the country seems accepting, at least in theory. The Serbian constitution defines marriage as a legal status that is reserved exclusively for mixed-gender couples. However, the nation does not criminalize same-sex intimacy. Age of consent laws are the same for gays and straights.

But the social view of homosexuality is not entirely accepting; extreme-right groups such as Obraz and Stormfront have made public threats against GLBT Serbians, as a Wikipedia article on GLBT life in that country noted.

Indeed, the Serbian government found it necessary to make a statement to the effect that an upcoming Pride event will be protected by security forces.

Right-wing extremists had defaced property with anti-gay graffiti and made threats against the Pride parade, scheduled to take place in the Serbian capital city of Belgrade on Sept. 20, reported an Aug. 19 article posted at the Web site for The Sofia Echo.

Sofia is the capital city of The Republic of Bulgaria. Sofia saw its first Pride parade take place last year.

The article noted that in 2001, anti-gay assailants committed violent attacks on Pride parade marchers.

The city and state governments are unwilling to see that violence repeated this year. The article said that assurances of the safety of those attending Pride were made by the Serbian Minister of the Interior, Ivica Dacic.

Similar assurances were made by Tomo Zoric, a spokesperson for the country’s State Prosecutor.

Dragan Đilas, the Mayor of Belgrade, also spoke against the specter of violence, though he also gave voice to a personal opinion that sexual orientation is a matter for the private, and not the public, sphere.

An Aug. 8 article at B92, a Serbian news source, carried Mayor Đilas’ comments.

“I say what I believe–maybe I was raised patriarchal–but sexual orientation is a personal thing, and I do not know why anyone would have to come out with it in public, regardless of whether they are homosexual or heterosexual,” the mayor commented.

The mayor defended his comments, saying, “I did not imperil anyone, I am not prohibiting anything, I just said that such an event will cause a reaction from those that destroy the city every several dozen days, and I am expressing concern for the participators.”

The comments drew a response from the Pride Parade’s organizers, who pointed out that it is not uncommmon for GLBTs to be the targets of bias and violence.

B92 quoted parade organizer Majda Puača as saying, “The organizers of the Pride Parade want to remind the mayor that minority sexual orientations are not a private thing because people of other sexual orientations are subjected to violence and discrimination.”

Moreover, organizers opined that it was important to bring the subject out into the open, and not leave it confined “inside four walls,” in the words of Mayor Đilas, in order to educate and inform the public, thus combating homophobia.

Puača went on to hail the mayor’s pledge to ensure the safety of the event, saying, “We support the stance of the mayor that the Pride Parade will be adequately secured, and we remind that we submitted a request last week to the mayor regarding the Pride Parade, and we expect that he will accept us as his fellow citizens of the city.”

See Also: Anti-gay graffiti surfaces in Serbia

This article originally published via Chicago’s EDGE. Visit their site to follow this and other amazing stories on the LGBTQ community.