Serbian gay parade is called off

[Bandito]

A Gay Pride march in Serbia has been called off after police told organisers they could not guarantee its safety.

One of the organisers said Serbia's prime minister had urged them to switch Sunday's rally from central Belgrade, but the proposal was "unacceptable".
President Boris Tadic vowed on Friday to protect the participants.
Anti-gay groups had threatened violence if the march were allowed to go ahead. "We're expecting you" posters had been stuck around the Serbian capital.
"Pride parades are traditionally organised in the main streets of big cities," said one of the organisers, Dragana Vuckovic.
It is "unacceptable" to stage the parade in a "field", she told the media.

The decision had been taken after a meeting on Saturday with Prime Minister Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic.
Nationalist and religious leaders have opposed a Serbian bill banning discrimination against homosexuals.
The ultra-nationalist Serb Popular Movement 1389 hailed the cancellation of Sunday's march as "a great victory for normal Serbia".
"In our city infidels and Satanists will not pass," it added.
Homosexuality in Serbia is still far from accepted, says the BBC's Mark Lowen in Belgrade.
The gay scene is underground and members of the community are regularly the target of discrimination.
Belgrade's first gay parade in 2001 descended into chaos amid widespread violence by mobs of protesters - with television images of bleeding participants and police firing rubber bullets broadcast around the world.
The organising committee of the planned Sunday march will certainly keep up the pressure, says our correspondent.
"The state has failed the fundamental test," it says in a statement. "The next exam period is approaching fast. The Republic of Serbia has capitulated. We have not."



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8264514.stm


This is how the first Gay Pride ended back in 2001:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlbeeKmAo7U&feature=related

Yet another time, serbian state has fallen to its knees. Intimidated by a bunch of fascists, homophobic assholes and orthodox clerics, Gay Pride is canceled.


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlbeeKmAo7U&feature=related)



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlbeeKmAo7U&feature=related)

[Pogue]

fucking hell thats awful. i'd be screwing if this ever happened where i lived (not that it ever would).

[gal3on64]

Did you guys catch the anarchist flag at 1:55 on that youtube video?
If you guys need translations, basically in the interviews people are talking about how these people are perverted and were provoking it because they were gay.
then in the chanting at 5:00 they're yelling "Kill, kill, kill the faggot"

[Sasha]

Belgrado pride cancelled after pressure cops and fascists
Queerbeograd - 19.09.2009 17:21

(writing this in English especially for those that made the last week's fund raiser for this pride a big success - organized by SNOT @ ceintuurbaan 215, Amsterdam)

This morning it became clear that the Belgrade gay pride was cancelled due to pressure by police and fascists. It was supposed to be the second pride since the 2001 blood bath. The pride in 2001 got brutally attacked by fascists. Since then Serbian queer activists have been building alliances with fellow queer activists across borders as well as local antifa groups. They felt confident enough to stage this second pride now 8 years later. This is the press release they just send out.

Belgrade, 19.9.2009


This morning organisers Beograd Pride held their final press conference before tomorrows pride parade. Except pride will not be held, due to high security risks and a lack of cooperation on the part of state and police to secure the event. Serbian police have cancelled permission for the pride to be held in its planned location in the centre of the city.

This is after months of planning by the organising team, and repeated assurances from government at all levels, the minister for minorities, and the Serbian premier and president, that the pride will be secured and protected.

A full security study was commissioned more than three months ago by pride organisers and executed by the university defence department constructing a detailed strategy for all logistical possibilities to carry out pride safely with full instructions for how police would secure pride participants entrance to the parade, their safety during the event and their ability to leave the event unmolested.

This security study also made detailed recommendations for preventative measures that could be taken by police in the months leading up to pride to minimise the risk of violence. Police did not undertake these measures and despite months of meetings with pride organisers and daily meetings in the past two weeks have failed to act on security measures, instead choosing the tactic of pressurising organisers to cancel the event.

In the last 48 hours the police in meetings with pride organisers refused all cooperation for the securing of the pride, applying further pressure to organisers to cancel. Police refused to take responsibility for maintaining public order during the event. Instead telling the pride organisers that they would be held responsible for any public damage caused by the hooligans and fascist groups who have been organising a violent response to pride.

In the past week the logistical plans of fascist groups for their violence towards pride participants have been published in serbian media, these plans include calls for the lynching and beating LGBT people attending the pride. Serbia has laws against hate speech but at no point has there been any move on the part of authorities to prosecute, instead the official line has been that this is *a debate, an exchange of opinions*

Public statements in support of pride have been made at the level of European parliament as this is an important step forward for human rights in Serbia and would signal an end to the rule of right wing violence over the rights of minority groups and an entry of serbian society into a new era of more open equality.

Police have offering an alternative venue on the edge of town, tho how this event might be better secured than the location formerly agreed upon is not known. Today pride organisers have officially requested that police take action against fascist and right wing organisations who have issued hate speech against LGBT groups and pride in the press.

Pride organisers continue to meet today to discuss possible courses of action to demonstrate against this failure by serbian state and police to defend our most basic human rights, the right to safely walk the streets.

We want to ask you for your support and action.

Please spread the Information,
write protest notes to the following Politicians or
organise protests at Serbian embassies.



WRITE TO:
Boris Tadić
Predsednik Republike Srbije
Andrićev Venac 1
11000 Beograd

Tel: +381 11 3632 007, 3632 136
Fax: +381 11 658 584, 361 78 65
Email: http://www.indymedia.nl/images/maillink.gif [email protected]

Prime Minister - President of the Serbian Government
Mirko Cvetkovic
Predsednik Vlade Republike Srbije
Nemanjina 11
11000 Beograd
Serbia

Tel: +381 11 3617-719
Fax: +381 11 3617-609
Email: http://www.indymedia.nl/images/maillink.gif [email protected]

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior
Ivica Dačić
Nemanjina 11
11000 Beograd
Serbia

Tel/Fax: +381 11 3617-586
Email: http://www.indymedia.nl/images/maillink.gif [email protected]
E-mail: http://www.indymedia.nl/images/maillink.gif [email protected]
www.mup.sr.gov.yu (http://www.mup.sr.gov.yu/)

Mayor of Belgrade
Dragan Djilas
Dragoslava Jovanovića 2, 3229-678
Email:

Minister of Human and Minority Rights
Svetozar Ciplic
Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 2
11000 Beograd
Email: http://www.indymedia.nl/images/maillink.gif [email protected]


Belgrade Pride 2009

source: indymedia.nl

[rokosovski]

Dear comrades, I'm from Serbia. Our country is a hell for workers. Every day I can see on TV that there is another workers boycott . It's very sad. Our goverment is releasing a very big number of young people. Gay parade is something that is not posible now. Why isn't there a parade of released workes, released army oficers and mothers who hasn't have anything to prepare to their children? That's a very good question. Rights of that people are also in danger. Nationalists are just bunch of guys who have anything to do. Hope your understand me, comrades. Sorry for my English.:)

[Искра]

Hm the biggest problem is that that Serbian government forbid every single
public gathering!

http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2009&mm=09&dd=19&nav_id=382331

[Искра]

Did you guys catch the anarchist flag at 1:55 on that youtube video?
If you guys need translations, basically in the interviews people are talking about how these people are perverted and were provoking it because they were gay.
then in the chanting at 5:00 they're yelling "Kill, kill, kill the faggot"

"Kill the faggot" that's the song of RAC band from Serbia called Direct Action.

Anarchist flag is ASI's (http://inicijativa.org) flag

[Rjevan]

"In our city infidels and Satanists will not pass," it added.
Er, wut? :blink:
What is this? Some mockery of religious idiots? Or just religious idiots, making a mockery out of themselves? Probably the last one. :rolleyes:

Sad news and a shame for the Serbian government, getting mobbed and by fascists and then giving in - wow, what heros, this is what I call true democracy!

[Искра]

Er, wut? :blink:
What is this? Some mockery of religious idiots? Or just religious idiots, making a mockery out of themselves? Probably the last one. :rolleyes:

Sad news and a shame for the Serbian government, getting mobbed and by fascists and then giving in - wow, what heros, this is what I call true democracy!

Only I can say to this is: Welcome to Balkans. :)

[Bandito]

Dear comrades, I'm from Serbia. Our country is a hell for workers. Every day I can see on TV that there is another workers boycott . It's very sad. Our goverment is releasing a very big number of young people. Gay parade is something that is not posible now. Why isn't there a parade of released workes, released army oficers and mothers who hasn't have anything to prepare to their children? That's a very good question. Rights of that people are also in danger. Nationalists are just bunch of guys who have anything to do. Hope your understand me, comrades. Sorry for my English.:)
I asked you the same questions in West Balkan forum.
If you don't have an answer, stop bullshitting and fuck right off this forum.
Gay Pride is for specific type of freedom, one that you, as a homophobe can never understand.
It wasn't based on social issues, yes, but that wasn't the purpose of this parade. It was meant to show people that LGBTQ people aren't invisible and their fucking right to love someone.

[Bandito]

Er, wut? :blink:
What is this? Some mockery of religious idiots? Or just religious idiots, making a mockery out of themselves? Probably the last one. :rolleyes:

Sad news and a shame for the Serbian government, getting mobbed and by fascists and then giving in - wow, what heros, this is what I call true democracy!
Religious, ulta-right wing fuckers, supported by clerics.
I have zero respect for serbian government, and they showed once again that they fall under attack of a few fascist shitheads.
By the way, the "switch" of the Pride, as police offered was basically to a field outside Belgrade. In other words, "if you want to be proud of your sexual orientation, do it where "normal" people can't see you".
Fuck you, minister of internal affairs, very much.

[Искра]

Bandito whats the name of that priest which said in the movie "Vrela krv" (Hot blood)

"They tried to put on pink satanist uniforms, so I called up Delije (Heroes - hooligan group), the fist of Serbia, to make contra-demo. But I said to them "behave nice", so they did"... and then they show in the movie that gay pride when 20 people are beating one little queer... and RAC music in background...

So, whats the name of that idiot? He's funny as hell, but it's sad that such idiots are someones heroes

[Bandito]

Zarko Gavrilovic.
He also had some other statements, such as "Homosexuals want to eat each other's shit and put hands into anuses."
And yet there are people who consider this guy as a spiritual leader.

[Искра]

Ha ha ha :laugh:
I remember him talking that.... I was laughing as hell :D

[mykittyhasaboner]

That video is horrible, even worse when you hear what some of these people are saying. The woman at around 4 10 who starts speaking about homosexuality as an "illness" and perversion", as well as the fucks marching through Beograd carrying the chetnik flag saying that "they [the homosexuals] aren't normal people"; the crowd following them who are shown right after are chanting "kill kill kill faggots".

The police cannot even contain the amount of homophobes, thats frightening. The Serbian state has (pretty much summed up by Bandito) capitulated to the threat posed by reactionary scum who were the cause of all the violence shown in the video. Its a real shame.

[bcbm]

and put hands into anuses

Well, that much is true... :blushing:

[Искра]

Documentary about Serbian fascists... in Serbian...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXXPsz8YWEo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF5Uefte74A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A3XZJJfYvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSOE2D9LmuQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=podFd0BBgzk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fLrFmDsMJs

[gorillafuck]

So, whats the name of that idiot? He's funny as hell, but it's sad that such idiots are someones heroes
He doesn't sound that funny to me.

[an apple]

I have to say after all that it's nationals have done my image of Serbia is less than glittering.

[rokosovski]

I asked you the same questions in West Balkan forum.
If you don't have an answer, stop bullshitting and fuck right off this forum.
Gay Pride is for specific type of freedom, one that you, as a homophobe can never understand.
It wasn't based on social issues, yes, but that wasn't the purpose of this parade. It was meant to show people that LGBTQ people aren't invisible and their fucking right to love someone.

You don't know anything about the situation here. Gays don't know anything about anarchism and communism. Here they hate leftists because they don't love gays. Gays are supported by our corrupted goverment. Our country can't say anything to the americans and EU because we are their slaves. Fuck America! Fuck EU!

[rokosovski]

England goverment have always supporting ultra-nationalists. In WWII, in Yugoslavia, before WWII. Vuk Draskovic, ultra-nacionalst is anglofil. Draza Mihailovic, nationalist and fascist was anglofil. That explains everything so you just can't tell us what to do because England is always trying to destroy yugo communism. You are blinded by propaganda.

[Bandito]

You don't know anything about the situation here. Gays don't know anything about anarchism and communism. Here they hate leftists because they don't love gays. Gays are supported by our corrupted goverment. Our country can't say anything to the americans and EU because we are their slaves. Fuck America! Fuck EU!
Oh boy.
First of all, I'm from Serbia.
Like yourself. I thought that "i Asked you the same thing in the West Balkan forum" kinda revealed my location... :rolleyes:
"Here they hate leftists because they don't love gays"
??????
There is no such thing as love for a certain sexual orientation, gay or straight, there is just fight for their right to express their feelings publically.
Every leftist, communist or anarchist should know that, not being a freaking homophobe, and that is the reason why I think you got the wrong forum. Plus, it makes your statement stupid in more than one way.

And...if "gays are supported by our corrupted government", than why is this Parade off and why they treated potential parcipatents as the scum of the Earth.
Wake up.

P.S.
And, PLEASE, don't bring "Fuck USA" and "Fuck EU" into this discussion. Rather childish.

[rokosovski]

RESPECT YOUR OPINION.:thumbup:

[Искра]

Rokovski, Bandito kicked your ass :D

[rokosovski]

I support communists and anarchist and respect their opinion. Hope you respect mine. You are trying to make a argument or what???

[Qayin]

rokosovski (http://www.revleft.com/vb/../member.php?u=25578) fuck off homophobe scum

[rokosovski]

xamkx-liberal capitalist. Scum.

[Искра]

xamkx-liberal capitalist. Scum.
If you continue in this way, you'll get ban

http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2009&mm=09&dd=20&nav_category=11&nav_id=382355
30 fascist arrested in Belgrade.

[gorillafuck]

I support communists and anarchist and respect their opinion. Hope you respect mine. You are trying to make a argument or what???
He did make an argument.

Since you're a communist, you should definitely support gay rights. Homophobia is oppressive and also only serves to divide people and scapegoat homosexuals, and if you want to fight oppression than you obviously should support gay rights and pride parades.

[Crux]

If the police can't protect the parade, what are the possibilities for organizing your own defence?

[Bandito]

Casualties are also a part of a political process. Dialectics teach us that.
Queer organizations here have stumbled upon something they didn't see coming-the state. By abandoning leftist principles in this crucial time for their rights and relying on "liberalism" of the Government, they have put themselves in danger of being manipulated and betrayed by the police as a representative repressive organ of the state.
That mistake cost them this Pride March.
The State hasn't capitulated just because of threats made by several right-wing organizations. The complete public pressure lies in the essence of liberal capitalism.
Why wasn't the president Tadic in front of the parade?
Because he would lose the next elections.
And there ends the story about politics here and we enter realism. Political call would be to stand in front of the parade and lose elections. During time, this call would prove to be the right one and he and his party would gain popularity because of the right call made, no matter what consequences lied in front of them.
But no, this is liberal capitalism, which has little do do with politics in its real meaning. It's all about staying in power for a brief time, steal as much as you can from the people and later live comfy from the money you stole from them. In transitional capitalist societies like Serbia, it's common known that you "work" for a couple of years, steal as much as you can and then dissapear from publc life. Fact.

:cursing:

[revolt4thewin]

oh vey

[Mälli]

Why does serbia have so many fascists and white pride shit heads?

[Anaximander]

Why does serbia have so many fascists and white pride shit heads?

Just a guess, but I think it has to do with the vacuum created by the breakup of Yugoslavia. A lot of the Balkan states have long nationalist traditions, and the unified state of Yugoslavia ran counter to, say, Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian nationalism. A look at the name of one of the fascist organizations, 1389, harks back to the days of a Serbian Empire.. go figure. :rolleyes:

Self-defense orgs seems like a good idea, although I wouldn't blame it on anyone if they felt fear in the face of hatred like that. It is plain despicable.

I'll be keeping an eye on this.

[Bandito]

Why does serbia have so many fascists and white pride shit heads?
Anaximander gave a pretty good short analysis of the situation here. There aren't that many "white pride" morons, it's an another sort of fascism that derives from historical conservativism in former Yugoslavian states.
Religion is the heart of their nationalism. Their heroes are religious figures like Nikolaj Velimirovic, a serbian orthodox priest who was openly anti-semite and very fond of Hitler and italian fascism. He is considered as "undergroud" religious figure, but the Church has never condemned him for his views. Croatia had a catholic priest Aliojzije Stepinac who had similar views and similar status today as Serbia's Velimirovic.
Mix that with tradition of "preserving faith and name" under Turkish Empire and Habsburg Monarchy, xenophobia comes as an expected result. Yugoslavia as a status was another "enemy"(despite of all SFRJ's numerous errors and revisionism, no one can really say that the idea of unification of Balkan countries was not a good one. It's not Tito's piece of work, the man behind the idea is Nikola Garasanin,well before WW2) of traditionally conservative people.
Also it is important to add that today's nationalists are grandsons and granddaughters of former capitalists whose property was confiscated after WW2. They seeded hate for the working class and internationalism and this is what we reap as a consequence.

[Bad Grrrl Agro]

Large scale international pink bloc convergence in Serbia anyone? Bring the international eye, plus larger numbers.

[revolt4thewin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcckupszclM&feature=related
Dixie Land!