Serbia is the only Balkan country whose prime minister is openly gay, however, on the eve of yesterday's Pride Parade, some LGBT activists objected to the Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, participating in the parade, accusing her of not doing anything to advance their rights.
In 2017, Brnabić participated in the parade in Belgrade, surrounded by "Ana is here" posters and took photos with dozens of people. She also led the procession yesterday in which the Minister of Labor Zoran Đorđević and the Minister of State Administration Branko Ružić participated, who said that in this way Belgrade sends the message that it is an open city "that respects the tolerance and freedom of everyone and all differences".
Ambassadors of the USA Kyle Scott, Frederik Mondoloni of France, Arne Sane Bjornstad of Norway, head of the EU Delegation in Serbia Sam Fabrici, Commissioner for Equality Brankica Janković were also in the procession.
The pride parade was held under the slogan "Say yes", and the walk, as reported by the Serbian media, was peaceful and was guarded by a smaller number of policemen than in previous years.
However, on the eve of yesterday's Pride, the organization "Gay Lesbian Info Center" (GLIC) launched a "Say no" campaign on social media to politicians and diplomats at the Pride Parade. The focus of their campaign was Prime Minister Brnabić because, as stated in the GLIC announcement, , her work to "advance LGBT rights disappointing".
GLIC assessed her recent statement that LGBT rights will come next when more important issues are resolved, such as improving the standard of living, increasing wages and pensions, as particularly problematic.
"I'm sure that at some point this topic will also be on the agenda, but now is the time to focus on issues of, first of all, national importance," Brnabić told Pride magazine last week.
"That was a scandalous statement," Predrag Azdejkovic, president of GLIC, told the BBC.
Dissatisfied with the efforts of other gay activists, Azdejkovic initiated a second parade in June. Its goal, he said, is to "return the gay parade to ordinary people and distance itself from politicians."
"They tell us: you have a gay prime minister, two parades, you should be satisfied. However, it's all just makeup," said Azdejković.
Belgrade director Stevan Filipović, who opened Pride Week 2016, said that the fact that the Parade is being held and that it is not under the attack of hooligans is some kind of progress, but he warned that this progress could only be cosmetic.
"We are probably the only country in the world, or at least one of the few, that has a gay prime minister, who does not deal with gay issues, and these issues fall within the domain of basic human rights," Filipović told Radio Free Europe.
On the other hand, the organizers of yesterday's Pride assess that there is progress in realizing the rights of the LGBT community in Serbia, but that they are too slow. The director of the organization Civil right defenders (CRD), Goran Miletić, said that this year's event is also a "balance between celebration and protest", because it represents a gathering with clear demands.
The name under which this year's Pride is held, "Say Yes", also carries one of its basic demands and messages - the legalization of same-sex unions, said Miletić.
Such communities actually exist in Serbia, but they are invisible in the legal system, which is why, according to the organizers of Pride, about half a million people are discriminated against. Among other things, there is no possibility of using the partner's health insurance if one is unemployed, there is no inheritance of joint property after the death of one of the partners, and no hospital visits if it is allowed only to family members.
Miletić also pointed out that in cases of hate violence, the perpetrators are often not identified, and when they are, the prosecution is slow in doing its job and the proceedings take a long time. However, he believes that "politicians must be part of the parade and send the message that it's OK to be gay."
Yesterday's Pride Parade was the fifth that was continuously held in Belgrade. As in previous years, it was preceded by Pride Week (which began on September 10), during which more than 60 exhibitions, concerts, film screenings, debates and conferences were organized.
After a three-year break, the first Pride was held in Belgrade in 2014, which was considered successful, i.e. not disturbed by incidents. The pride parade in October 2010 was held with great riots and violence on the streets of Belgrade. Pride in Belgrade was not held in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
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