Petrelis Files

 Serbs Arrest Man Threatening Gay March;
'Cure' Clinic in Belgrade

As gay Serbians continue to make plans for their October 10 Gay Pride Parade, threats of violence are being made against the gays and straight Serb leaders. According to a story at Pride Belgrade 2010 web site, law enforcement agencies taking the potential for assaults seriously. Here are excerpts, roughly translated by Google:

He Was Arrested for Threatening Pride Parade

Self-styled commander of the Guard of Tsar Lazar, Hadzi Andrej Milic was brought to the police because of threats [against] Pride Parade participants and the state [officials] at the top.

The prosecution said that all of these cases will be prosecuted and that the state must ensure that the Pride Parade to be held.

As the pride parade approaches, and are often threats are directed to the participants of this event. The latest come from the organization "United Movement of Serbs" and "Tsar Lazar Guard". [...]

Local TV station B92 reported on the man making the threats, and also took film of some brave gay Serbs being visible this week. The vid is in Serbian, but the images carry the story. Check this out, after a 30-second commercial:




In other news from Belgrade, the daily newspaper Alo recently reported on a nutty doctor who runs a clinic to "cure" homosexuals of their gayness. Alo said, again, in an automated Google translation, some disturbing fact about the doctor and his wacko, discredited theories:

While Serbia is largely prepared for the "Pride", Miroljub Petrovic, director of the Institute of Natural Medicine, which last year opened the first center for the treatment of homosexuality in this country, [... and gave assistance to] two dozen people. [...]

According to him, homosexuality is a difficult psychiatric disorder that occurs as a result of poor education, unhealthy life, and the use of drugs. [...]

[The doctor said] "sexual abuse and murder are an inevitable part of living in which they dragged the members of this population. Unlike other places where the killings take place in a predictable manner, in homosexual environments are accompanied by slashing and killing of the worst kind, which testifies to the kind of disease [homosexuality is]. [They] Participate in a bizarre sexual rituals, and the dominant place in the celebration of holidays as monstrous as Halloween, just a few examples of manipulation of these people."

Okay, even allowing for the automated translating, this Serbian doctor clearly is pushing dangerous allegations about gays and homosexuality.

I share news about the arrest and threats being directed at the gays in Belgrade, and the loony doctor, to give us American gays just a small taste of some of the forces and dynamics at play for our brothers and sisters. We gays everywhere stand in strong solidarity with gay Serbs now, and certainly on October 10 when they march in the streets.