Final Stage of Belgrade’s 2013 Pride Week!

Organizers of the Belgrade’s Gay Pride confirmed yesterday at a press conference that there is no ban for this event up to now and they made public all the details of the awaited march of Saturday, September 28.

 

The Organization Board of the 2013 Pride Week explained that between 9 to 10 a.m. people with gather under strict security measures at the Manjez Park, located between Nemanjina Street, Resavska Street and Svetozara Markovica Street, near the city center.

 

After 10 o’clock it will not be possible to enter this park. The march will start from there and after the walking people will go back inside the park.

 

But what might be important to notice after the organizers made public today the details is the advice that Maja Micic, Director of Youth Human Rights Initiative gave to everyone who will go the march.

 

She said: “Avoid small streets when coming to the park. Try to be in small groups of two people. The traffic will be blocked although the public transportation will be available”.

 

Then she added: “Don’t take flags, rainbow colors of other LGBT markings. Please bring to us today until tomorrow all your promotional materials that you plan to use. The Police will not allow any material that is not brought to us first and try to avoid colorful clothing or rainbow markings when coming to the park”. The police will ask everyone for an ID.

 

“Does that mean people should be less gay? Is this your victory or your defeat”, asked a Serbian journalist of B92 Television. The organizers explained that these are just some “good pieces of advice” and they underlined that people are and will be safe. They also said that comparing to other minorities LGBT population has made “steps forward”.

 

A journalist asked Goran Miletic of Civil Rights Defenders if there is any security assessment and if this conference was a strategy to push the institutions to have a final stance. He admitted that the situation is unclear but he added that “it would be strange to have a ban”.

 

“We are now in what is that stage of the pride that I like less and it’s the stage of the political will and of course, at the last moment everything can happen with the political issue”.

 

But one day before Miletic stated that “the march of the LGBT population scheduled for Sept. 28 should be held regardless of security assessments”.

 

The Prime Minister Ivica Dacic has said that the holding of the Belgrade Pride would be "good for the country" - but that he "certainly won’t be taking part".

 

"I am in favor of everybody’s constitutional right to express their diversity, but it is my right not to go there. We shouldn’t go to the other extreme and ingratiate ourselves with everybody. What am I supposed to do now, become gay, so that everything’s pro-European," Dačić said. But he also added: "It’s not merely a question of whether we’re in favor of the parade, but whether we’re in favor of the citizens’ security."

 

Yesterday he also made some comments on what is natural and not (regarding LGBT) but the organizers of the pride refused to comment on this, they just avoided that with a smile.

 

There have been 42 threats on LGBT this year, most of them through social media, but Miletic said that “for solidarity reasons we don’t want to talk about threats”.

 

Other 7 demonstrations against the pride are announced from other groups. One of them has also said they will try to raise awareness on “natural recourses of Serbia” and that they will use these recourses on their demonstration (meaning petrol bombs, stones, etc). The organizers replied that there is a difference between announcing the plan for the demonstration and getting the permission from the police. They added that they support “all gatherings even those against the pride, who are peaceful”.