Belgrade Pride 2023 slogan: ‘We’re not even close’
Belgrade Pride 2023 is taking place under the slogan "We're Not Even Close" (Nismo ni blizu), emphasizing that the LGBTI+ community in Serbia is faced with increasing violence and discrimination. Pride Week is set to be from September 4th to 10th, and the Pride Parade will be held on September 9th at 4:00 PM.
The start of this year's Pride campaign was marked by graffiti on the Pride Info Center, where Belgrade Pride activists aimed to draw attention to the verbal and physical attacks they face. Considering that the Pride Info Center has been vandalized 18 times without any perpetrators being held accountable, this time Belgrade Pride decided to preempt the hooligans. Simultaneously, it's an opportunity for the Pride 2023 slogan "We're not even close" to reach a wider audience.
Belgrade hosted EuroPride 2022, which took place despite several police bans and a negative campaign led by government officials and right-wing organizations. By prohibiting EuroPride, the country made an unconstitutional decision to prevent peaceful citizen gatherings and protest marches, which contradicts the Serbian Constitution. Unconstitutional bans have been known since 2009, and the Constitutional Court has ruled four times that the officials had no right to ban Pride. The Constitutional Court's reaction to last year's ban is still awaited. On the other hand, the rise of extremist, right-wing, and nationalist movements goes unnoticed by the public, resulting in an increase in hate speech and discrimination.
Therefore, the slogan "We're Not Even Close" reflects the LGBTI+ movement's struggle for equality, dignity, and love.
We're not even close, because violence against LGBTI+ citizens in Serbia is still widespread.
We're not even close, because violence against LGBTI+ citizens in Serbia is still widespread.
We're not even close, because same-sex unions are still not legally recognized and regulated.
We're not even close, because our healthcare and laws still systematically discriminate against transgender individuals.
We're not even close, because we're not free to hold our partner's hand in public.
We're not even close, because the government still takes away our constitutionally guaranteed right to peaceful gathering.
We're not even close, because none of Belgrade Pride's demands have been met.
Belgrade Pride's demands have remained unchanged since 2017, and they are:
- Adoption of the Law on same-sex unions.
- Adoption of the Law on gender identity and the rights of intersex persons and an improvement in services available to trans people.
- Fast and adequate reaction from state authorities, as well as public condemnation by government representatives, of hate speech and hate-motivated crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community.
- Adoption of local action plans for the LGBTQIA+ community.
- An apology to all Serbian citizens who have been prosecuted or in any way discriminated against prior to 1994 due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Education for youth about sexual orientation and gender identity
. - Free and easily accessible pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP).
This year's Pride Week, scheduled from September 4th to 10th, will encompass a series of cultural, artistic, and educational events, including a theater festival, exhibitions, panel discussions, debates, parties, and community talks. The Pride Parade, set for Saturday, September 9th at 4:00 PM, will begin and end at “Manjež Park“ in Belgrade, where this year's concert program is planned after the Parade.
This year, through activities during Pride Week, special attention is directed towards the issues and problems faced by transgender, intersex, and gender variant individuals, who, without the adopted Law on Gender Identity and Rights of Intersex People, are still subjected to lengthy and arduous processes, hormonal therapy, and forced sterilization, just to obtain personal documents that correspond to their gender, while intersex babies are still operated on due to the legal requirement to assign them a sex.
The complete Pride Week program, as well as all updates regarding the parade, concerts, and other parts of the program, can be followed on the official Belgrade Pride website, www.prajd.rs, as well as through official communication channels on X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, under the username @belgradepride.
