Pride March Held in Belgrade on Sept. 7

Photo: Beta/Milan Ilic

Belgrade's Pride March, the main event of Pride Week, took place without any incidents on Sept. 7 under a strong police presence and was attended by several Serbian ministers, though none from the two leading parties -- the Serbian Progressive Party and the Socialist Party of Serbia.

The marchers stopped in front of the Serbian government headquarters, where organizational committee member Filip Vulovic said the law on same-sex unions was "locked in a drawer" in the building. "We do not want to be second-class citizens," Vulovic said.

The Green-Left Front caucus unfurled a rainbow flag from a second-storey window on Serbian parliament while the marchers passed by cheering and waving. A stage was set up in the center of Manjez Park, the starting point of the march, for a 7 p.m. concert, which included singer Zejna Murkic, this year's Pride godmother.

The marchers again called for the adoption of the Law on same-sex unions and the Law on gender identity and the rights of intersex persons and on state agencies to respond swiftly and commensurately to hate speech and hate crimes against the LGBTI+ community and for government representatives to publicly condemn these crimes, along with the adoption of local action plans for the LGBTI+ community. Serbian ministers Tanja Miscevic, Jelena Begovic and Tomislav Zigmanov attended the event, as did representatives of the U.S. and British embassies.