PRIDE 2001 - REPORT FROM THE ORGANISERS

Friday, 15 June 2001 01:00

‘LABRIS’  Lesbian Human Rights Group

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web site: http://www.womenngo.org.yu/labris

GAYTEN – GLBT

Campaign Against Homophobia/ www.gay-serbia.com

Deve

Queeria

Belgrade

Serbia  - FR Yugoslavia

ULTRA-NATIONALIST AND NEO-FASCIST ATTACK ON THE GAY AND LESBIAN ATTEMPT OF PRIDE PARADE

- REPORT FROM THE ORGANISERS

Labris – Lesbian Human Rights Group, GAYTEN - Center for LGBT Human Rights, Campaign Against Homophobia, Deve & Queeria  - the organizers of the first planned public celebration of the Pride Day,  Gay and Lesbian Parade in Belgrade set up for 3pm on the Republic Square, Saturday 30 of June 2001, give the following statement of what happened instead of  the Pride Parade.

Introduction

In May 2001 the preparation of the parade started, as well as announcements on lesbian and gay web sites.  In the beginning of June extremely homophobic statements appeared on  the site of ‘Delije’  (-fans of the soccer team ‘Crvena Zvezda” known for its leader Arkan who was a paramilitary leader in Croatia and Kosova.   (www.oaza.co.yu/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002164.html). Other ultra-right groups , which  announced that they will prevent  the parade from happening were:  ‘Obraz’ –  a  religious organization which openly  uses hate speech (www.obraz.cjb.net), Saint Sava Youth,  fans of the SRS – Serbian Radical party, known for the hate speech and war crimes of its leader Vojislav Seselj, as well as skinheads.

The event was regularly registered to  the local police station (Stari grad) as the law obliges.  The organizers who went to talk to the police commander warned him that these ultra-right groups are planning to prevent the lesbian and gay event, and that violence is possible. 

Two days before the even on the 28th of June some posters appeared  in town without signature and with the following text:

orthodox people  gather for  a spiritually healthy Serbia

LETS PREVENT  an  anti-Christian, homosexual, immoral, perverse orgy

Considering this, organizers worked on three levels: one to inform all the human rights organizations about possible violence and invite them to join the event,  two, to talk to police again in making sure they take  the  threats seriously, and three, to work on lessening the fear among gays and lesbians who still decided to come to celebrate  Pride Day.

The program was supposed to last  for an hour and a half on the main Republic square, with music, dance, poetry, balloons, and  a rainbow flag. From  5pm  panel discussions on the  subject  of  lesbian and gay rights as well  as on  the lesbian and gay culture were  planned in the Student Cultural Center, with local artists, human right activists, scientists, writers, representatives form the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Culture.   The Grand Party was planned at 11pm.

On the spot

One part of the organizers arrived at 2:30.  There were already about 300 men and  a  few women on the Republic square gathered together. At 2:50 the first attack started, one man was passing by who had yellow hair and looked different, someone pointed to him, and the gang started running in the high speed toward him.  At the same moment many young men from  the other side of  the square started to run and scream “Get the Faggot”.  The young man with yellow hair was hit  on  the pavement, and kicked by many by legs until he started  bleeding.  At that point about 600-800 men were shouting “Serbia, Serbia - Death to Queers”. 

During  the next one hour there were many stampede attacks of hundreds  of men running to beat women, men, young and old, passers by, feminists who came to support the gays and lesbians, journalists, organizers who came with balloons and a flag and practically anyone.  Whenever a new ‘victim’ was identified the stampede would start in that direction.  In this one hour period there were about 10 policemen  on  the  square  who mostly did not intervene, and some gave comments: “We are not here to defend faggots”.

In this period the priest Zarko Gavrilovic from the Serbian Orthodox Church and the representative of the Svetosavska party was on the Republic Square.  He gave a statement “ I came here to peacefully protest against this deviance. We have not fought against communists in order that Satanists would come on their place.  We want  a divine Serbia with divine people who will give birth according to divine plans”. 

In this one hour citizens were hit with: eggs, stones, metal sticks, beer bottles, cans.   They were injured  by being hit with fists, legs, they were spitted on, battered, fisted etc. 

The second hour started with the violent men walking toward the Student Cultural Center, hitting the shop windows and behaving generally violent.  In that moment the police decided to come in jeeps in large numbers.  When policemen started to confront the extremists the fight started between  the police and the extremists.   At one point, at 4:30 the main street, Srpskih Vladara was closed for the traffic, since around  a 1000 men were stampeding, running, shouting, hitting,  and few times  the police had to use guns and shoot in the air in order to frighten the extremists.  In front of the Student Cultural Center the gang of attackers started to hit the windows of the Center, to threaten with a bomb, to shout again hate speech phrases, to show pistols.  By that time the police was also in the jeeps around the Center.   At 5:25pm the organizers decided not to start the second half of the program due to the safety of all.  (The first half of the program was as well not possible to realize.)

Some of the activists were afterwards followed by the extremists and attacked on the way home. 

The organizers estimate around 40 injured civilians, out of which 11 reported to the ambulance.  The police reported that there were 8 injured policemen, one badly injured, and  also  that 32 men were taken  in  by  the  police (six of them under 18), but were not charged or filed guilty.  

After the event

First media reports the day after gave some comments and photos of the violence, but the comments were varying from the homophobic to democratic.

The meeting with the human rights lawyers was organized two days after, and a press conference three days after.  

The Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic stated: “I think it is too early in a country of long isolation and patriarchal repressive culture to bear this type of tolerance toward difference”.

The president of the state Vojislav Kostunica did not state his comment, even though he was asked to give his words by the representative from the Assistant of the Ministry of Education, Srbijanka Turajlic, and even though in the previous incidents of skinhead attacks on Roma and Jew citizens the president gave a short comment. 

Also the representatives of  the Serbian Orthodox Church still remain silent, although  the Forum of Writers demanded from the Church to give their statement considering this brutal violence.

The Chief of Belgrade police, Bosko Buha,  stated that ”As a community we are not ready for this kind of showing  of  deviance”.

The leader of  the GSS party (Citizen’s Assembly of Serbia) Goran Svilanovic  condemned the violence and the violent groups.

The organizers demand  justice for  the lesbian and gay men population, the right to public gathering, right to body integrity, freedom of speech, equal treatment by  police, as well as the Anti-discrimination law in the Criminal Law.  The organizers as well demand from all the political levels and institutions  that  they advocate for human rights of the GLBT (gay men, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) population.

All the documents on the web site:  http://www.Gay-Serbia.com

Dusan Maljkovic

Lepa Mladjenovic

Ljiljana Zivkovic

Milan Djuric

Labris – Lesbian Human Rights Group

GAYTEN – Center for GLBT Right

Campaign Against Homophobia/www.Gay-Serbia.com