Belgrade Pride shows Serbia’s progress despite anti-gay violence

By Saskia Joreen on Monday, October 11, 2010 - 21:37

Yesterday in Serbia, for the first time lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex (LGBTI) people and their supporters were able to host a March for Equality - undisturbed and fully protected by the police.

The European region of ILGA regards this event as historic and has congratulated the LGBTI community and Serbian civil society with this significant progress. The organization also congratulated Serbian authorities for fulfilling their duties and commitments to ensure security of the Belgrade Pride March.

However, ILGA-Europe and other international officials - like the Secretary General of the Council of Europe - are seriously concerned with the large-scaled and organised violent attacks organised by Serbian ultra-nationalists, and the amount of work which still needs to be done in the country before LGBTI people can feel free and safe.

Despite the heavy police protection, the March for Equality was shortened and participants of the March were completely isolated from the general public. ILGA-Europe believes the next challenge for the Serbian authorities and the police will be to ensure the proportionality of security measures with the true spirit of free assembly – delivering a message which on this occasion was compromised. 

The Serbian police can be praised for impeccable conduct of their duty. Out of the 141 injuries that were reported, 124 were suffered by police officers. Police arrested a total of 207 people, of whom 100 were detained for disorderly conduct and destroying property [from: EMG].

Linda Freimane, Co-Chairs of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, who was taking part in the Belgrade Pride on behalf of the organisation, said:

Belgrade Pride had a history of being one of the most violent and bloodies[t] Prides in Europe. However, today, the Serbian authorities proved they are serious in their respect for everyone's right to exercise their fundamental rights, and for European integration. Despite significant pressure from some of its citizens, religious leaders and threats by ultra-nationalists, the March for Equality could take place and no participants were hurt during the March.

Our deepest sympathy goes to those Serbian police officers who received serious injuries and a participant of the March who we learned has been attacked after the March. We regret and denounce the fact that some sections of the Serbian society do not want to see their country as an equal and democratic part of the European family and employ barbaric and violent methods to prevent the progress in their country.

We sincerely hope that the Serbian government and the political elite will continue their work towards protecting the human rights of all citizens, and we will continue [to] monitor the situation in Serbia closely, as well as continue our work with LGBTI and other organisations who are dedicated to legal and social change in Serbia.

Even though Serbia still seems to have a long way ahead in terms of LGBTI equality and acceptance, the fact that the Pride March was able to take place yesterday can be considered a big step in the right direction.

For further reading, you can for example check out this eyewitness report, as well as some news videos.