Sunday, October 02, 2011

Pix: Belgrade's Gay Flash Mob
Despite Govt Cancellation of Pride

Last week, the Serbian Interior Ministry banned the LGBT community from staging a Pride march that had been scheduled for today because of threats from religious fanatics and neo-Nazi thugs.

The gay organizers still went ahead with a conference on Saturday, according to Billy Urich, a gay activist from Connecticut who flew to Belgrade to show solidarity with the Serbians.

Billy also share with me these photos taken yesterday and I'm so honored and pleased to show you the image of the flash mob that hit the streets, and the courageous gays who defied tremendous bias and hostility to be proud and visible in public.

Kudos to the LGBT people of Serbia for still showing visibility and going forward with a few actions and meetings to counter the awful hatred they face. And many thanks to Billy, for traveling two-years in a row to Belgrade and building bridges with our brothers and sisters over there.

All photos are from Billy. Please credit him, if you use his images.

 The gay flash mob in central Belgrade on Saturday.

Flash mob participants on the sidewalk before stepping into the street.

The black street pavement was redecorated with paint by activists.

The LGBT Serbian community held a conference on Saturday to further organize for acceptance and tolerance. At the microphone is local leader Goran Miletic.

Billy Urich, left, with Lazar Povlovic.

Outside the media center where the conference was held, uniformed police were on hand to protect the attendees.

1 comment:

Oliver said...

Hello Michael,

thank you very much for your comment on my blog thinkoutsideyourbox.net. I had an extensive news coverage with several articles about the belgrade pride this year.

I definitely agree, that Serbias LGBTI-Community needs a huge support to achieve their goals.

All the best from Vienna, Austria,
Oliver