Pride parades

Montenegrin LGBT activists hope to walk the streets of the capital, Podgorica, for the third Gay Pride March, set for December 13.

The organizer of the parade, Queer Montenegro, an NGO, on Wednesday said it had decided to change the route from the one used during the previous two years.

The organisers of the Pride march confirmed on Monday that it will be postponed due to the current protest rallies against alleged government corruption, which have been going on for over two weeks. 

The Pride Parade was held in Belgrade on Sunday for the the second year in a row.

The participants' walk from the government building to the Belgrade City Assembly passed without incident.

Organizers of the Belgrade's Pride Parade 2015 said they were satisfied with the "atmosphere" ahead of the gay march scheduled at noon on Sunday and they believe the event will be peaceful although Pride Parade has a turbulent history in Serbia.

Pride Week 2015, an event devoted to promotion and protection of rights of the LGBT community, officially began on Monday by symbolic cutting of the ribbon.

The permissions necessary for the staging of the parade on Sunday, September 20, have not been issued yet but these should be procured by Thursday, said Boban Stojanovic of the Belgrade Pride Organizing Committee.

The Pride Week is starting in Belgrade on Monday and will last through September 20 when the Pride Parade will be held.

Organizers believe that this year the parade will pass without incidents.

Belgrade Pride Week 2015 will take place from September 14 to September 20 and - unlike previous years - this time activists expect fewer problems to mar the event.

Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali said on Friday he would support the Pride Parade, if it is held in the city.

"I have no confirmation that the Pride Parade will be held, as well as the parade of trans persons. If they are held, I will support both," Mali said, when asked by reporters at the City Hall.

Belgrade Pride Week will be organized from September 14 to 19 and the Pride March will take place on September 20.

Members of the Belgrade Pride Organizing Committee announced this on Tuesday.

The Istanbul Governor's Office has defended its ban on the LGBTI pride march in Istanbul, amid reactions from the international community against the brutal police crackdown on marchers June 28.

The governorate banned the parade at the eleventh hour on the day of the planned march, despite the fact the event has taken place peacefully in Istanbul since 2003.