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Belgrade Pride

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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)
Venueopen air & multiple venues
Location
Causecelebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies
Websiteprajd.rs

Belgrade Pride (Serbian: Парада поноса у Београду, romanized: Parada ponosa u Beogradu) is an annual pride parade held in Belgrade, Serbia to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies. The first event was held in June 2001 and was subject to violence, as was its next event in 2010 which sparked an anti-gay riot. Since 2016, Belgrade Pride has been organized annually without bans. The manifestation is a part of the Belgrade Pride Week, which in addition to the pride parade itself also includes cultural events, workshops, discussion panels, parties and a live concert as the closing event.

Background

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Following the collapse of Yugoslavia and during the ensuing Yugoslav Wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, LGBTQ activists worked on opposing the rise of ultranationalist regimes in collaboration with feminist and peace organizations. During this time, homosexuality was decriminalised in Serbia. LGBTQ activists then worked to help topple the semi-authoritarian regimes in Serbia and Croatia following the 1995 Dayton Agreement.[1] After the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević's regime in 2000,[2] and then the end of the Yugoslav Wars in 2001, Serbian and Croatian LGBTQ activists began to alter their activism toward a politics of visibility.[1]

History

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2001: "Massacre Pride"

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The first ever attempt at the organization of a pride event in Belgrade occurred in 2001, yet it ended up with the violent assault on the organizers and participants by sport fans and extreme right wing activists.[2] Footage of the event shows participants being beaten in the street as the Serbian police stood by. The event was thus dubbed "massacre Pride". Following this, liberal Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated. These events prompted a change in strategy for LGBTQ activists in the country, who as an alternative to claiming public space formed their own cultural spaces.[1]

2010–14: "Bunker Pride", "midnight Pride", and 2014 authorisation

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Belgrade Pride 2010, or "bunker Pride", was supported by heavy police protection

Authorities prevented further efforts to organize and register the event until 2010, a year after the adoption of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination.[3] That Pride, which was held in October 2010 far from the city centre,[3][1] is remembered for vandalization of the city and heavy violence from hooligans aimed at attendees of the pride, as well as at police. According to police reports, 140 people were injured during the event, out of whom 120 were police officers.[3] The event that year was dubbed "bunker Pride", in reference to its distance from the city centre and the separation of the parade from potential onlookers by walls of police.[1] The events from the 2010 Belgrade Pride were referenced in the 2011 movie The Parade, directed by Srđan Dragojević, which attracted significant audience in Serbia and former Yugoslavia, becoming one of the decade's commercially highest performing films.[4][5]

Afterwards, Belgrade Pride again faced bans from the governing bodies.[4] In 2013,[6] possibly as a result of the pressures of European Union (EU) accession requirements which insisted that the holding of peaceful pride parades was essential for membership consideration,[1] the Constitutional Court of Serbia ruled that the 2011 ban had been a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of assembly, awarding damages to the organizers.[6] Despite this, an attempted 2013 Pride celebration was cancelled in the middle of the night, prompting a brief protest gathering in Belgrade that was dubbed "midnight Pride".[7]

Belgrade Pride 2014 was the first to be authorised since 2010 and was also held under heavy security measures

Pride was authorised in the Belgrade city centre in 2014, during which time Serbia was under intense pressure to demonstrate a commitment to human rights to the European Union. This parade, attended by a few hundred marchers, was encircled by 7,000 police in full riot gear, and the Belgrade downtown was entirely cordoned off to the general public in anticipation of attackers, with all who entered being frisked, screened with a metal detector, made to wear a neon green wristband for identification, and given a small rainbow flag. The march, which was short and began late, was attended by several EU ministers and watched by police helicopters overhead. The event was generally peaceful, which organiser Boban Stojanović hailed as a great achievement. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić said, "Not one window was broken today and for that we have to credit the security forces because they showed that they can maintain security." The EU stated that the parade was a "milestone in the modern history of democratic Serbia." This march was followed by a protest by thousands of Serbian nationalists and Orthodox Christians later in the day, who chanted "kill the gays", and "Serbia and Russia, we don't need the European Union."[1]

2016–present: Yearly events and increasing tolerance

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The third Belgrade Pride parade was held in September 2016, and this was largely without any violence.[1] Since then, the event has been organized annually, except in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]

Belgrade Pride hosted EuroPride in 2022

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.[8] 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.[9] Belgrade became the first city in the region, as well as the first one outside of the European Economic Area, to host the event.[10] On 27 August 2022, 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 stated they would go forward with the event anyway.[11] Vučić and the Government of Serbia then ultimately approved on 17 September that the parade could take place. With an estimated 6,000 participants, the 2021 Belgrade Pride became the highest-attended one so far.[12][13] Minor incidents happened during the parade walk, orchestrated by contra protestors.[14][15]

Demands

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Transgender flag at the Belgrade Pride parade 2019.

Since 2014, Belgrade Pride has had the same demands, which include the following:

  • Legalization of same-sex unions
  • Introduction of a law on gender identity and the rights for intersex people
  • Stronger official responses to hate speech and hate crimes
  • Adoption of local action plans for the LGBTQ community in Serbia
  • Public apology for Serbian citizens who have been persecuted for their sexuality and gender identity until 1994
  • Education on sexual orientation and gender identity
  • Free and easily available PrEP and PEP[16]

Overview

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# Date and year Slogan Attendance Pride's Godmother Queen of the Pride Ref
1. June 30, 2001 Ima mesta za sve nas
There Is Place For All Of Us		 N/a N/a [2]
2. October 10, 2010 Možemo zajedno
Together We Can		 ≈ 1,000 [3]
3. September 28, 2014 Ponos za sve
Pride For Everyone		 1,000-1.500 [17]
4. September 20, 2015 Moja prava, moji zahtevi
My Rights, My Requests		 1,000 Biljana Srbljanović [18]
5. September 18, 2016 Ljubav menja svet
Love Changes The World		 1,000 Mirjana Karanović [19]
6. September 17, 2017 Za promenu
For Change		 1,000 Jelena Karleuša Alex Elektra [20]
7. September 16, 2018 Reci DA!
Say YES!		 1,500 Suzana Trninić Dita von Bill [21]
8. September 15, 2019 Ne odričem se
I'm Not Disowning		 2,000 Sara Jo Ostroga Mi [22]
9.[a] September 19, 2020 Solidarni i u četiri zida
Solidary Also Between Four Walls		 Cancelled [23]
10. September 18, 2021 Ljubav je zakon
Love Rules		 3,000 Nataša Bekvalac Alexis VanderCut Plastic [24]
11.[b] September 17, 2022 Vreme je
It's Time		 6,000 Sajsi MC Lana Vee [15]
12. September 9, 2023 Nismo ni blizu
We Are Not Even Close		 4,000 Ida Prester Hydra GGH [25][26]
13. September 7, 2024 Ponos su ljudi
Pride Are People		 3,500 Zejna Sunnoka [27][28]
Notes
  1. ↑ Traditional activities were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. ↑ Belgrade Pride hosted the 2022 EuroPride.

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Irvine, Janice M; Irvine, Jill A (2017). "The Queer Work of Militarized Prides". Contexts. 16 (4): 32–37. ISSN 1536-5042.
  2. 1 2 3 Maksimović, S. (30 June 2021). "Dvadeset godina od prvog Prajda u Beogradu: "Bolan i traumatičan simbol borbe za LGBT+ prava u Srbiji"". BBC News (in Serbian). Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Janković, M. (10 October 2021). "Parada ponosa 2010. i LGBT prava: Da li je Prajd pre 11 godina doprineo pravima gej ljudi u Srbiji". BBC News (in Serbian). Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  4. 1 2 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.
  5. ↑ Savanović, D. (13 October 2020). "Ovo su najgledaniji domaći filmovi u protekloj deceniji: Koji vam je omiljeni?". Telegraf.rs (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 8 December 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  6. 1 2 Civil Rights Defenders (14 February 2017). "Belgrade Pride Bans Were Unconstitutional, Strasbourg Court Says". Civil Liberties Union for Europe. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Irvine, Janice M; Irvine, Jill A (2017). "the queer work of militarized prides". Contexts. 16 (4): 32–37. ISSN 1536-5042.
  8. 1 2 Edita Barać-Savić (5 October 2021). "Vuk Raičević about this year's Belgrade Pride Parade". Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  9. ↑ "EuroPride 2022 Belgrade". EuroPride 2022 Belgrade. n.d. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  10. ↑ Goran Miletić (5 August 2022). "It's time for EuroPride in Belgrade". European Western Balkans. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  11. ↑ Kwai, Isabella (2022-08-27). "Serbia's Leader Cancels EuroPride. Organizers Say They Will Go Ahead Anyway". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-08-29. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  12. ↑ "Organizatori: Gotovo 10.000 ljudi u šetnji i borbi za ravnopravnost". N1. 2022-09-17. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  13. ↑ Đurić, Vanja; Đurić, Dimitrije (2022-09-17). "Vlada garantovala bezbednost, organizatori kažu – parada odobrena, ali incidenti" (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 2022-09-17. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  14. ↑ "Protivnici Prajda gazili LGBT zastavu i pevali pesme" (in Serbian). 2022-09-17. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  15. 1 2 "Završen Evroprajd, pre šetnje incidenti, baklje na policiju, pretnje novinarima". N1 (in Serbian). 18 September 2022. Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  16. ↑ Miljuš, S; Ranković, R (7 September 2024). "Održan beogradski Prajd, zahtevi LGBT zajednice isti već godinama". Voice of America (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  17. ↑ Teodorović, Miloš; Zorić, Ognjen; Glavonjić, Zoran; Nešić, Milan (28 September 2014). "Nakon četiri godine održan drugi beogradski Prajd". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbian). Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "Uspešno održane Parada ponosa i Trans parada". N1 (in Serbian). 20 September 2014. Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  19. ↑ "Parada ponosa, šetnja i žurka". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbian). 18 September 2016. Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  20. ↑ "Održana Parada ponosa: Žurka na Trgu uprkos vetru i kiši". N1 (in Serbian). 17 September 2017. Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  21. ↑ Zorić, Ognjen; Manojlović, Mila; Komarčević, Dušan; Nešić, Milan; Ćosić, Gordana (16 September 2018). "Prajd 2018: Između proslave i protesta". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  22. ↑ "Oko 2.000 ljudi bilo na Prajdu u Beogradu, građani se žalili da im policija nije dozvolila da uđu". Danas (in Serbian). 16 September 2019. Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  23. ↑ "Beograd Prajd: Nedelja Ponosa i Prajd Marš u drugačijoj formi". N1 (in Serbian). 19 August 2020. Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  24. ↑ Miloš Miljković, Petar Paunović (18 September 2021). "Nekoliko hiljada učesnika na Prajdu u Beogradu, Bekvalac: I ja sam deo LGBT zajednice". Danas (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  25. ↑ "Arhiv javnih skupova: U šetnji učestvovalo oko 4.000 ljudi, drugi najbrojniji beogradski Prajd". Danas (in Serbian). 11 September 2023. Archived from the original on 8 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  26. ↑ Čonjagić, M. (9 September 2023). "Završena Prajd šetnja: Organizatori smatraju ovo najmasovnijim Beograd Prajdom ikad, centar grada otvoren za saobraćaj". Danas (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  27. ↑ "Arhiva javnih skupova objavila koliko je ljudi šetalo na Prajdu". Danas (in Serbian). 8 September 2024. Archived from the original on 8 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  28. ↑ "Prajd 2024: Šetnja bez incidenata, zahtevi podneti pre deset godina - neispunjeni". Danas (in Serbian). 7 September 2024. Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
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