The Pride Caravan, which was supposed to start today with a protest in Pirot, was canceled because the local police verbally told the organizer that they could not secure it - it was confirmed to "Vremen" from the "Da se zna" organization. which organizes this year's Belgrade Pride.
According to plan, this year's Pride was supposed to start with protests in Vranje and Pirot.
In Vranje, the protest passed peacefully, because no one responded to the rally "For a family walk" announced by the Union of Free Trade Unions.
Photo: Dejana CvetkovićDetail from the Pride caravan in Vranje
Attack on journalists
In Pirot, the journalist of the "Mašina" portal, Aleksandar Đokić, journalist Sara Stanojković, associate of "Tampon Zone", were attacked. They were pushed away by three men, who then shouted at them "separate, march, take cover". They prevented them from filming even though they showed them their IDs and said they were journalists.
TV N1 journalist Gordana Bjeletić was shot in the head.
Many citizens opposed to Pride gathered, and afterwards, the police informed the organizers that they could not secure the protest.
Numerous threats
Immediately after the announcement of the event, the activists of "Da se zna" were sent numerous threats of violence and murder on social networks, which is why the association filed a unified criminal complaint against nine people and called on the competent institutions to react urgently.
The association says that this year they are also organizing the Pride Caravan, an initiative that will visit six cities in Serbia during July - Vranje, Pirot, Zaječar, Kraljevo, Šabac and Loznica.
The goal of the caravan, as they point out, is to draw attention to the position of LGBT+ people in smaller communities, where homophobia, transphobia and discrimination are still part of everyday life, and a large number of people still hide their identity for fear of violence and rejection.
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