#Newsbar komedija sarajevo pride how to#

Some politicians also said the parade was putting the capital in a hostage situation, due to the number of restrictions put in place in order to ensure peace and the safety of the participants, pledging not to allow such “human rights violations” to be repeated should they be elected. Such statements risk attracting more hate and discrimination against a community in Bosnia and Herzegovina that already lacks fundamental rights protection. In the controversial post, the minister not only expressed discriminatory views but also made it seem as if the interests of the LGBT+ community threatened the interests of other vulnerable groups in the country.Īccording to the post, protection of LGBT+ rights is detrimental to the protection of rights of many other groups.

The Minister of Economy for Sarajevo Canton, Adnan Delic, used the official Facebook page of his ministry to spread his personal views on the parade, which many social media users condemned.

General elections are scheduled to take place in Bosnia on October 2, and many politicians and political subjects used the parade issue to appeal to voters.Ī member of the Bosniak Party for Democratic Action, SDA, and the former minister in Sarajevo’s Cantonal government, Faruk Kapidzic, on the day of Sarajevo Pride, on Facebook compared the parade with the 1992-5 siege of Sarajevo and even involved the convicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic in the comparison, thus not only spreading hate against the LGBT+ community but also insulting the citizens of Sarajevo who lived through the siege. Similar violations were recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina, both during but also ahead of the Sarajevo Pride Parade.Īn interview that Mirza Halilčević, a member of the organizing committee of BiH Pride Parade, gave to the portal Byka, attracted many homophobic comments. The content of the debate well exceeded the boundaries of protected speech, with many comments calling for violence against the Pride participants and other members of the LGBT+ community. Angry debates were sparked between social media users who supported the parade and those who opposed it. The first pride march in Sarajevo was held in 2019, while last year’s event gathered only small numbers because of the pandemic.BIRN monitoring recorded a rise in online hate speech and incitement to violence in North Macedonia, related to Skopje Pride.

#Newsbar komedija sarajevo pride how to#

The group’s demands included swift passage of a law on same-sex partnerships and a plan on how to end discrimination and improve the lives of LGBT people in Bosnia. “We demand equality! Aware of discrimination, violence and hate speech, we resist and say it’s enough!” But I will be proud of what I am, proud of myself for being a gay man,” he said. “I was always taught I should not be visible. One of the organizers, Amar Catovic, told the crowd Saturday that “the time has come to speak openly and clearly about the problems we are facing.” “In the year behind us, the rights and freedoms of LGBTIQ+ people have further deteriorated.” “We, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans, intersex and queer people, take to the streets because the pandemic restrictions are our everyday realities,” groups behind the pride said in a statement. Sidelined in the war-ravaged country, Bosnia’s LGBT community have urged resistance against “constant exposure to fear, violence, discrimination, violations of our basic human rights and unequal treatment.”