Decision on Pride Parade to be announced on Friday

If Serbia is to be called a free country, the choice the authorities should be facing is not 'whether' but 'how'.

The irony is that by opposing these parades, more is done to increase awareness and (in the longer term) change the attitudes of society towards sympathy and understanding.

If it were not opposed, there would just be a small demo and much less publicity.......

Marko I know you are a good sort and want the best for Serbia but I despair about your moralising concerning other peoples life decisions.

I agree with you that the event should be allowed to take place, but why do you think that their democratic right to assemble should be confined to private property, when the rest of us have the right to assemble anywhere we want?

If people don't like to see this type of thing, just avoid it. Its not difficult. I'm personally much more offended by seeing innocent people beaten up in public by hooligans than I am by a bunch of people mincing about - and in Serbia its a pretty sober walk, without the cavorting and dancing that 'normal' people are so offended by.

what gay would even dare to show his face by being in a gay pride parade in Serbia? They would fear being stoned to death or killed afterwards with the current mentality of this country.

I'm proud of my name.

I don't want to confine it to private property, however in the interests of safety and security I think it would be a good emergency measure.
(Marko, 27 September 2013 19:01)

Well, that's the wrong solution. That's like saying because somebody might attack you in the street that you should not be allowed to get out of your house!!!!

The right solution is to confine to private property (a.k.a. jail) those who commit crimes.

I understand Serbian resentment towards artificial western pressures and other nonsense, but unfortunately someone has convinced the gay people in Serbia that unless they get a parade, then they are oppressed. I know its silly, and I understand why people are opposed to it on moral and on national grounds, but this problem is not going to go away and it is better to allow it once and for all so that the problem does not escalate to violence or rioting.

I think a compromise would be to allow a Gay picnic or something else on private property instead of in public view, in the street. That way no one could be opposed to it, counter protesters would be trespassing, and it could not be politicized.

I don't want to confine it to private property, however in the interests of safety and security I think it would be a good emergency measure.

Eventually it could be allowed, after things calm down and people see that this sort of thing is more of an unpleasant sign of the times and a reality that is not going to disapear.

As far as moralizing, this is primarily a moral arguement. One one hand you have traditional values and on the other you have humanist/moral relativist values that are en vogue. My entire point is that it should be prevented from coming to blows, rather than prevented from existing.

MarKo, things won't calm down until the homophobic "majority" are forced, by the government's indiscriminate protection of minority rights, to put up with the parade. This is like exposure therapy administered to people who suffer from phobias: with limited exposure, irrational anxieties subside over time. LGBT people aren't asking their fellow citizens for anything more than tolerance and respect. They need to hold public - not private - parades in order to express their very valid concerns over civil rights. They need to raise banners that read things like "Serbs, get with the times", or "Serbs, you're supposed to be smart", or "Serbs, they say people with the biggest problems with gays are often gay themselves" in order to get through to their detractors (I'm joking - LGBT people are generally far too kind to resort to insults).

I'll close by sending out my usual message of support to the LGBT community in Serbia. Don't lose heart, and remember, Serbs have put up resistance to a number of realities over the past decade or so: the EU, Kosovo, Srebrenica, the extradition of war crimes suspects...and look what's happening. Whether Serbs care to admit it, Serbia is becoming more Western by the hour. Unfortunately, thousands of hours have yet to pass.

I understand Serbian resentment towards artificial western pressures and other nonsense, but unfortunately someone has convinced the gay people in Serbia that unless they get a parade, then they are oppressed. I know its silly, and I understand why people are opposed to it on moral and on national grounds, but this problem is not going to go away and it is better to allow it once and for all so that the problem does not escalate to violence or rioting.

I think a compromise would be to allow a Gay picnic or something else on private property instead of in public view, in the street. That way no one could be opposed to it, counter protesters would be trespassing, and it could not be politicized.

If Serbia is to be called a free country, the choice the authorities should be facing is not 'whether' but 'how'.

The irony is that by opposing these parades, more is done to increase awareness and (in the longer term) change the attitudes of society towards sympathy and understanding.

If it were not opposed, there would just be a small demo and much less publicity.......

I'm proud of my name.

Marko I know you are a good sort and want the best for Serbia but I despair about your moralising concerning other peoples life decisions.

I agree with you that the event should be allowed to take place, but why do you think that their democratic right to assemble should be confined to private property, when the rest of us have the right to assemble anywhere we want?

If people don't like to see this type of thing, just avoid it. Its not difficult. I'm personally much more offended by seeing innocent people beaten up in public by hooligans than I am by a bunch of people mincing about - and in Serbia its a pretty sober walk, without the cavorting and dancing that 'normal' people are so offended by.

I don't want to confine it to private property, however in the interests of safety and security I think it would be a good emergency measure.

Eventually it could be allowed, after things calm down and people see that this sort of thing is more of an unpleasant sign of the times and a reality that is not going to disapear.

As far as moralizing, this is primarily a moral arguement. One one hand you have traditional values and on the other you have humanist/moral relativist values that are en vogue. My entire point is that it should be prevented from coming to blows, rather than prevented from existing.

what gay would even dare to show his face by being in a gay pride parade in Serbia? They would fear being stoned to death or killed afterwards with the current mentality of this country.

I don't want to confine it to private property, however in the interests of safety and security I think it would be a good emergency measure.
(Marko, 27 September 2013 19:01)

Well, that's the wrong solution. That's like saying because somebody might attack you in the street that you should not be allowed to get out of your house!!!!

The right solution is to confine to private property (a.k.a. jail) those who commit crimes.

MarKo, things won't calm down until the homophobic "majority" are forced, by the government's indiscriminate protection of minority rights, to put up with the parade. This is like exposure therapy administered to people who suffer from phobias: with limited exposure, irrational anxieties subside over time. LGBT people aren't asking their fellow citizens for anything more than tolerance and respect. They need to hold public - not private - parades in order to express their very valid concerns over civil rights. They need to raise banners that read things like "Serbs, get with the times", or "Serbs, you're supposed to be smart", or "Serbs, they say people with the biggest problems with gays are often gay themselves" in order to get through to their detractors (I'm joking - LGBT people are generally far too kind to resort to insults).

I'll close by sending out my usual message of support to the LGBT community in Serbia. Don't lose heart, and remember, Serbs have put up resistance to a number of realities over the past decade or so: the EU, Kosovo, Srebrenica, the extradition of war crimes suspects...and look what's happening. Whether Serbs care to admit it, Serbia is becoming more Western by the hour. Unfortunately, thousands of hours have yet to pass.