Belgrade Pride
 | |
 2021 Belgrade Pride in front of the House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia | |
| Native name | Парада поноса у Београду (Serbian) |
|---|---|
| Venue | open air & multiple venues |
| Location | Belgrade,  Serbia |
| Cause | celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies |
| Website | parada.rs |
Belgrade Pride (Template:Lang-sr) is annual pride parade held in Belgrade, Serbia to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies.
After the first attempt in 2001, which was faced with hooligans violence, authorities prevented further efforts to organize and register the event until 2010, when it was organized once again and faced attacks resulting in 100 injured.[1] In 2013 the Constitutional Court of Serbia had ruled that the 2011 ban was a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of assembly awarding damages to the organizers.[2]
The third pride parade was organized in 2014 (when the first Belgrade Trans Pride was organized in parallel) without any notable incident, after which the event is organized every year, except in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] From 2016 onwards, the second pride event known as the Pride of Serbia, is organized in June to commemorate the Stonewall riots.
At the conference in Bilbao in 2019, Belgrade Pride was selected to host 2022 EuroPride in competition with ILGA Portugal, Dublin Pride and Pride Barcelona.[4] Belgrade is the first city in the region as well as the first one outside of the European Economic Area to host the event.[5]
On August 27, President Aleksandar Vučić announced he would not permit EuroPride to go forward, citing current tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, economic problems, and concerns that anti-gay protestors could disrupt the event. Organizers of EuroPride denounced the decision and said they would go forward with the event anyway.[6]
History
The first ever attempt at the organization of the event in Belgrade occurred in 2001, following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević's regime; yet it ended up with the violent assault on the organizers and participants by sport fans and extreme right wing activists. Following the 2010 violence, the parade even was banned by the authorities citing concerns over public peace and order.[7] At the same time, Srđan Dragojević produced influential tragicomic movie The Parade (2011) which attracted significant audience in Serbia and former Yugoslavia.[7]
Over the years, public attitude changed with two thirds of participants of the Civil Rights Defenders research explicitly supporting the right to hold a pride parade in Belgrade.[3]
In 2021, requests to introduce law on same-sex unions and stronger official responses to hate speech and hate crimes was the highlight of the event.[8][9]
Gallery
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2015 Belgrade Pride -
2018 Belgrade Pride -
Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabić at the 2019 event -
2021Belgrade Pride -
Nataša Bekvalac at event in 2021
See also
- Novi Sad Pride
- LGBT rights in Serbia
- Recognition of same-sex unions in Serbia
- LGBT history in Yugoslavia
- Sarajevo Pride
- Zagreb Pride
References
- ^ Slobodan Maricic & Petra Zivic (16 September 2018). "Serbia Pride: Gay PM Brnabic 'not wanted' at parade". BBC. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ by Civil Rights Defenders (14 February 2017). "Belgrade Pride Bans Were Unconstitutional, Strasbourg Court Says". Civil Liberties Union for Europe. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ a b Edita Barać-Savić (5 October 2021). "Vuk Raičević about this year's Belgrade Pride Parade". Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "EuroPride 2022 Belgrade". EuroPride 2022 Belgrade. n.d. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ Goran Miletić (5 August 2022). "It's time for EuroPride in Belgrade". European Western Balkans. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ Kwai, Isabella (2022-08-27). "Serbia's Leader Cancels EuroPride. Organizers Say They Will Go Ahead Anyway". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
- ^ a b Tobias Flessenkemper (18 September 2021). "Belgrade Pride 2021: heading for "roaring twenties" for human rights". Council of Europe (translation of the original op-ed in the Council of Europe (translation of the original op-ed in the Danas. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ Milica Stojanović (17 September 2021). "Belgrade Pride to Highlight Calls for Same Sex Union Law". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ n.a. (18 September 2021). "Парада поноса у Београду, шетња централним градским улицама прошла без инцидената". Radio Television of Serbia. Retrieved 23 January 2022.