With EuroPride set to take place in Belgrade, Serbia, thousands of Anti-LGBTQ+ Serbians have taken to the streets to protest the inclusive event.
The protesters who oppose Belgrade’s plans to host EuroPride on the 17th of September held signs with Absurd religious and homophobic statements, often picturing religious figures.
The protest, led by clergy from the Serbian Orthodox Church, followed a statement from Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, saying that the event would likely be postponed or cancelled due to attempts from religious groups to stop the celebration.
“It will happen but in some other and happier time,” Vučić explained.
However, In response to Vučić’s statement, Belgrade Pride director Marko Mihailovic hit back at the Serbian leader, saying that the government could not cancel the event and the only way to stop it would be to “try to ban it”.
European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) president Kristine Garina also responded to Vučić’s statement explaining that the Serbian president could not “cancel someone else’s event”.
“EuroPride in Belgrade will not be cancelled and will bring together thousands of LGBTI+ people from across Europe with LGBTI+ people from Serbia and the wider western Balkans,” Garina added.
Garina went on and claimed that any such ban would violate Serbia’s commitment to the European Convention of Human Rights – something the nation needs to join the European Union, which they have been trying to achieve since 2009.
“Aside from the illegality of such a ban, it must be noted that those opposing EuroPride in Belgrade are using tired old tropes, inaccuracies and downright lies to discredit what is, in fact, a celebration of human rights and equality.”
Serbia has been criticised by multiple LGBTQ+ rights groups for banning Pride events, while violent anti-LGBTQ+ protestors disrupted previous Pride events in the 2000s.
