Pride Week begins, Parade staging more certain

BELGRADE - Pride Week officially opened in the Grad Cultural Centre in Belgrade on Monday, and it will last until September 28 when Pride Parade should take place, the staging of which is slightly more certain than in the previous years thanks to a change in the atmosphere and lower public tensions, the organisers say.

The atmosphere is different this year, there are fewer tensions, the number of threats has dropped and the police are also conducting proceedings at an accelerated pace, which shows that the society is slowly changing, one of Pride Parade organisers Boban Stojanovic told a news conference.

Nevertheless, he said that some groups still want to jeopardise the staging of Belgrade Pride Parade.

Pride Week featuring a number of debates, exhibitions and film screenings was opened by transgender activist Gordana Mitrovic.

According to the announcements by the organisers, Pride Week will feature the Queer Salon V, an annual exhibition of works by artists who are interested in the topics of sexuality, gender, sex, violence and discrimination.

In the course of Pride Week, a tea party will be organised for supporters of the LGBT community, as well as a workshop, several film screenings and Pride Forum during which speeches will be delivered by Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia Michael Davenport and Serbian Minister without portfolio in charge of European integration Jadranka Joksimovic.

"This is the fifth Pride Week in a row. We have a lot of experience and we have recorded no incidents in all these years," Stojanovic said earlier today, adding that Pride Week is not an event that can cause negative reactions.

The organisers recalled that they had a number of meetings, including the...