LGBT Activists March with Politicians for Belgrade Pride

Third Belgrade’s Pride Parade under the slogan “Love changes the world” has been held on Sunday. Photo: Beta

The third Belgrade Pride Parade, which took place under the slogan “Love changes the world”, was held on Sunday with several hundred LGBT rights supporters, alongside Serbian politicians, participating in the march through the centre of the Serbian capital.

The group was protected by some 5,000 police officers who had the city centre in lockdown to ensure participants’ safety.

The gay rights supporters marched behind a truck decorated with balloons and blasting music, waving rainbow flags and carrying banners bearing not only the official slogan of the event, but also those in support of refugees, including “Solidarity with refugees” and “No borders no fences”.

Serbian actress Mirjana Karanovic, and ‘godmother’ of this year’s Pride Parade, officially opened the event, congratulating all those who gathered for the march, telling those present that she believes it is important for everyone to find a way to overcome fear, referring to the fact that LGBT rights have not become normalized in Serbian society and violence against LGBT people still occurs.

“Human life is precious and the right to live it freely is inviolable,” Karanovic said.

LGBT supporters marching at the third Belgrade’s Pride Parade. Photo: Beta

Alongside a strong police presence, armoured vehicles were also deployed and a police helicopter circled above the parade to deter potential violence, but no incidents were reported.

Numerous politicians and diplomats were spotted at the event, including Ana Brnabic, the Serbian Minister for Administration and Local Government, who is also the first openly gay minister in the country.

Belgrade’s mayor Sinisa Mali also joined the parade, alongside Bojan Pajtic, leader of the Democratic Party, DS, and Cedomir Jovanovic, President of the Liberal Democratic Party, LDP.

The head of the EU delegation to Serbia, Michael Davenport, and the German ambassador to Belgrade, Axel Dittmann, were among those from the international community who took part.

Boban Stojanovic, one of the event organisers, said that the Pride Parade is not only for the LGBT population, but for all those who are discriminated against and invisible in Serbian society.

“This is a celebration not only of LGBT people, but also for all workers who fear in their pain not to lose a piece of bread. A celebration of all Roma people who are silent. A celebration of all persons with disabilities who are suffering in four walls because they cannot describe what it’s like when everyone is staring at you and you are the subject of derision,” Stojanovic said.

He added: “This is a celebration for all women who suffer violence, the pride of all people in the workplaces who are silent and suffer because they feel powerless.”

During the march, protesters stopped for a minute of silence at the Patriots monument on Terazije street, intended to show support for the LGBT community in Turkey, where Pride parades have been banned, and as a homage to Hande Kader, a trans-person and activist who was brutally murdered in Istanbul in August.

Paraders with the “Love changes the world” slogan. Photo: Beta

Sunday’s march was also been attended by many people from abroad who wanted to show their support for Serbia’s LGBT community.

A twenty-one-year old girl from Kosovo, who did not give her name, told BIRN that she came to Belgrade to support the LGBT population, and said that the poor relations between the two countries did not deter her from taking part.

“I don’t really care about the political situation. It is a bit worse in Pristina considering gay rights, since we still cannot march, but I think it is getting better year by year,” she said.

While the conclusion of the event without incident is considered an achievement, Marko, a thirty-three-year-old man from Serbia, claimed that Pride Parade suffered from bad organisation this year, which resulted in a smaller number of people joining the march than he hoped for.

“It is shameful how the organisers ignored the fact the Pride is happening. Nobody called people to come,” he said.

However, he added that regardless, the Belgrade Pride event is still essential for providing visibility for the LGBT community among Serbian society.

“Continuity of Pride is important. I think the situation [for LGBT people] in society is a bit more relaxed every year,” he said.

Several other organisations that support gay rights, including the Gay Lesbian Info Centre and the citizen associations Egal and LGBT Serbia, also criticised the organisastion of the parade, claiming the event is not inclusive, is closed to the needs and criticisms of the LGBT community, and does not make an effort to boost the number of LGBT supporters who attend the march.

Serbia’s first LGBT Minister Ana Brnabic attended the Pride. Photo: Beta

The day before the parade, Serbian right-wing Dveri party organised a regional conference followed by a protest walk to the Serbian Government building.

The party’s leader, Bosko Obradovic, said on Friday that the purpose of the conference was to shed light on the problems that families and family values in Serbia and the world are exposed to.

“We want to protect family values and support family politics and put the family in the focus of the society,” Obradovic said.

Sunday’s event was the third consecutive Pride Parade in Belgrade that has concluded without any violence, and marks the end of the Pride Week, which ran from September 12-18. In the past, the march has been marred by violence, causing it to be banned for several years. 

Belgrade’s first Pride Parade took place in 2001, but the event was disrupted by violence when a large number of far-right nationalists turned up and attacked participants.

The parade was banned in 2009, but took place again the following year. However, violence again ensued; thousands of young people rioted on the streets, throwing stones and missiles, injuring police officers and setting alight buildings and vehicles. Over 130 policemen and 25 members of the public were injured in the mayhem, while 250 people were arrested. 

From 2011-2013, the Pride marches were banned as authorities said they could not protect the participants.

Finally, in 2014, the march was held again, and passed off without incident, as it did the following year, too. Police had warned that violence would not be tolerated and a high police presence was deployed onto the streets, as well as armoured vehicles and a helicopter to prevent any attacks.

Boban Stojanovic, one of the organisers of the Pride event, told BIRN last week that despite the fact that Pride appears to have managed to establish itself as an annual event, violence against LGBT people remains a big problem, while attacks are rarely registered as hate crimes.

He claimed that around three-quarters of the LGBT population in Serbia has faced some kind of violence because of their gender or sexual orientation at some point in their lives.