“Belgrade ready for Pride Parade”

Most of the citizens of Belgrade are ready for the gay Pride Parade, says Directorate of Human and Minority Rights Director Nenad Djurdjevic. “I believe that majority of citizens in Belgrade are ready for the holding of the Pride Parade and that they won’t go out in the streets to fight with someone they don’t like. The image from last year’s parade is an image of hooliganism which was politically and ideologically motivated,” he stressed. “Belgrade ready for Pride Parade” Djurdjevic told Tanjug that Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government was fully supporting every group’s right to peacefully express their positions, especially if there were indication that they were being discriminated. He assessed that the parade organizers and the public feared that their gathering could turn into hooliganism and clashes with the police. Djurdjevic explained that they would send calming messages in order to prepare the public and prevent the events from the previous year from happening. When asked about the position of the LGBT population in Serbia, he stressed that every freedom was being achieved “step by step” and that it could not happen over night, especially if the society had prejudice against the group. “There are prejudice and ignorance about representatives of the LGBT community. There is still a belief that it is a disease, but those things represent an echo of an unenlightened stance,” Djurdjevic said. According to him, the LGBT community is the only minority group that has a problem when it wishes to publicly show it exists. “The representatives of the LGBT community have the right to a normal life and it is state institution’s duty to support them and allow them to show they exist through a peaceful gathering,” the Directorate of Human and Minority Rights director concluded.

“Belgrade ready for Pride Parade”

Đurđević told Tanjug that Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government was fully supporting every group’s right to peacefully express their positions, especially if there were indication that they were being discriminated.

He assessed that the parade organizers and the public feared that their gathering could turn into hooliganism and clashes with the police. Đurđević explained that they would send calming messages in order to prepare the public and prevent the events from the previous year from happening.

When asked about the position of the LGBT population in Serbia, he stressed that every freedom was being achieved “step by step” and that it could not happen over night, especially if the society had prejudice against the group.

“There are prejudice and ignorance about representatives of the LGBT community. There is still a belief that it is a disease, but those things represent an echo of an unenlightened stance,” Đurđević said.

According to him, the LGBT community is the only minority group that has a problem when it wishes to publicly show it exists.

“The representatives of the LGBT community have the right to a normal life and it is state institution’s duty to support them and allow them to show they exist through a peaceful gathering,” the Directorate of Human and Minority Rights director concluded.