Bosnians Stand ‘Proud Together’ Ahead of Pride March

Drag show at Kvirhana Queer Festival in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photo: SOC/Asja Mustajbasic.

"We want to show that support should be public. It often stays inside 'four walls' and is only declarative. LGBT people are moving in public spaces every day, and with the Pride March we want to show that those spaces are also their spaces," Vanja Sunjic, member of the organisational committee of the BiH Pride March, told BIRN ahead of the march. 

Photo: SOC/Asja Mustajbasic.

And public support is getting louder, and more visible, after two attacks on members of the LGBT community and the March's organisational committee in Banja Luka, administrative centre of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity. Three persons were injured during the hooligan attack on a closed meeting of LGBT activists. 

"We can see that support is becoming more public, especially after the attacks in Banja Luka. A number of public institutions have participated in the organisation of the activities during Pride Month, and we've managed to reach ones we could not reach before," Sunjic added. 

Photo: SOC/Asja Mustajbasic.

Over the June 16-18 weekend, more than 1,000 people visited Kvirhana, a festival of queer art and activism organised by Sarajevo Open Centre, SOC, as a part of Pride Month, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride.

Pride Month dates back to the so-called Stonewall riots in New York, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and has since spread beyond the United States.

Photo: SOC/Asja Mustajbasic.

Although Kvirhana is primarily a safe and celebratory space for lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender and queer persons, it is also a place of...