Olivera Kovačević is the Godmother of Belgrade Pride 2025
The Godmother of Belgrade Pride 2025 is journalist Olivera Kovačević, who will lead the Pride protest march on September 6 under the slogan “For Family.”
Olivera Kovačević, through her long-standing commitment and work, has contributed to the struggle for a better position of the LGBTI+ community and the advancement of human rights in Serbia.
“At a moment when our society has collapsed to the extent that students and citizens are forced to demand their basic rights on the streets of Serbian cities, when violence and police brutality replace the law and institutions, when hatred is being served to people through years of propaganda, I would like to emphasize that Pride is a form of struggle for the free and safe assembly of people who want to draw public attention to the violation of their fundamental rights. It is symbolic that the very first Pride in the world, more than half a century ago, began as a fight against police brutality. LGBT people in Serbia understand better than anyone what hatred can do to a person who simply wants to live like everyone else and to have equal legal and human rights, like everyone else. We don’t have to be the same, we don’t have to love each other, but we must enable all people to live freely. That is the measure of a healthy society,” says Kovačević.
This year’s Pride is a protest more than ever before, as Pride stands in solidarity with students and citizens in their fight for a more equal and just society. Filip Vulović from Belgrade Pride points out that the entire society is now confronted with police brutality on the streets of many Serbian cities, while members of the LGBTI+ community have been warning for decades that the police must equally protect all citizens, because a baton raised against one of us represents a threat of force against all.
“While students and citizens endure police brutality, while we have political prisoners and young activists on wanted lists, and while institutions fail to respond to the demands of students and citizens, Pride does not want to participate in the illusion of normality. That is why this year, instead of music, we will make noise during the march,” says Vulović.
The Pride Week program has been adapted to the current socio-political situation but has retained its recognizable format, offering diverse content for the LGBTI+ community. An essential part of this year’s Pride was also the Pride Caravan, which visited several cities across Serbia under the slogan “For Family,” says Matija Stefanović from Belgrade Pride.
“The Pride Caravan showed how endangered the LGBT+ community in Serbia is and how normalized violence has become in our country, especially in smaller towns. In Leskovac, the Pride Caravan was met with hostility and held under great tension, while the police and prosecutor’s office failed to prosecute a single person who endangered our safety or threatened us with violence and murder. In Kruševac, the police outright banned the Pride Caravan, thereby showing great negligence and legitimizing the perpetrators of violence and hooliganism. In this way, the state sent a message that LGBT+ citizens are not safe, that violence is acceptable, and that human rights are not guaranteed,” Stefanović states.
This year’s Pride is held under the slogan “For Family,” emphasizing that family must not be a privilege for some in society but a right for all. For years, Pride has demanded that Serbia fulfill its international obligations, adopt a law on same-sex partnerships, and legally regulate same-sex unions. None of Belgrade Pride’s demands have been met for years, and that is why we are sending a clear message – this year, family is on the streets.
