This year, Pride has felt more and more vital than so many other Prides of days gone by. Whilst enormous events like Pride in London have had to be cancelled, others have gone ahead in the face real opposition rather than coronavirus safety precautions.
One of these such Pride’s is in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, where queer people have taken to the streets today (August 14) despite opposition coming from a hardline Muslims political campaign group who also marched in protest of the LGBTQIA+ community who they deem ‘aggressive’.
The mayor provided funding for security and in a statement, the groups behind Sarajevo Pride said: “We, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans, intersex and queer people, take to the streets because the pandemic restrictions are our everyday realities. In the year behind us, the rights and freedoms of LGBTIQ+ people have further deteriorated.”
Amar Catovic, one of the organisers said to the attending crowd: “The time has come to speak openly and clearly about the problems we are facing. I was always taught I should not be visible. But I will be proud of what I am, proud of myself for being a gay man. We demand equality! Aware of discrimination, violence and hate speech, we resist and say it’s enough!”