EuroPride Parade, Anti-Pride Protests Taking Place in Serbia Despite Official Ban
LGBTQ+ activists are staging a EuroPride march in Belgrade, while their opponents took to the streets of the Serbian capital in protest - both in breach of the interior ministry's ban, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday
BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2022) LGBTQ+ activists are staging a EuroPride march in Belgrade, while their opponents took to the streets of the Serbian capital in protest - both in breach of the interior ministry's ban, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday.
The interior ministry banned Saturday's pride parade and the "family march," citing a risk of clashes and upheld its decision after several legal appeals.
The organizers and supporters of the EuroPride previously launched a petition, signed by 27,000 people, calling on the Serbian authorities to greenlight the gathering. Embassies of 22 western nations in Belgrade signed an open letter with a similar message.
On Saturday morning, streets in downtown Belgrade were closed to traffic due to the ceremony of conferring the title of second lieutenant to 135 cadets of two prominent Serbian military academies. Later in the day, EuroPride activists are expected to gather in front of the constitutional court building next to the parliament premises.
Police cordoned off the streets near the parliament and stopped a group of conservative protesters in front of the constitutional court entrance. Law enforcers drove these activists from the King Alexander Boulevard to a smaller street, to which they responded with sarcastic applause.
Members of patriotic organizations also flagged plans to stage a march in support of traditional values, which would start near the Temple of Saint Sava in the city center.
Several thousand people went to the streets of Belgrade on August 14 for a rally of traditional family values supporters. The organizers said that they had received the blessing of Bishop Nikanor of Banat, who had previously publicly condemned and anathematized all the organizers and participants of the EuroPride in Belgrade. Two other religious processions in defense of traditional values and against the parade took place in Belgrade on August 29 and September 11.