Serbia - GlobalGayz

Contents:

• SERBIA GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN JULY 2023
• SERBIA: FOR GAYS, A GHETTO MORN EUROPE
• LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
• GAY DICTNARY SERBIAN
• VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY OF HIV: POSIVE HEALTH STAT GAY VIRTUAL INTIMACI SERBIA
• BELGRA GAY IENDLY? - BELGRA FOM
• BELGRA GAY GUI
• PRI WEEK MGS: BEG GAY SERBIA

SERBIA GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN JULY 2023

Across the Wtern Balkans, Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Intersex (LGBTI) people are fightg for their rights to lead a normal life.

Pri paras were held over the past few years wh strong secury measur and, the meantime, Serbia elected a gay prime mister.

The UN Development Program (UNDP) report, Beg LGBT Eastern Europe, the rults of which were prented on Wednday (13 September), showed that gays and lbians, and persons livg wh HIV, rank amongst the most discrimated agast muni Serbia. Commentg on the appotment of the first publicly clared gay person to the Serbian prime mister’s office, Barzut said the ditor of succs of human rights stat a untry was not the fact that the prime mister is a lbian, but whether bulli are beg punished.

SERBIA: FOR GAYS, A GHETTO MORN EUROPE

As an activist, is important to me that every LGBT person Serbia is safe, and if someone is aaid to say they are lbian, transgenr or gay, then we have a problem Serbia, which nnot be changed by appotg a lbian as prime mister, ” Barzut said. Gay rights activists Serbia held their first Pri march four years yterday (28 September), walkg through Belgra streets emptied of traffic and pestrians by a massive secury operatn. I want to know how gay people are treated serbia bee I’m thkg about movg back so I n take re of my parents as they get olr.

LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE

I know same sex marriage isn’t legal or regnized, and adoptn isn’t accsible for queer people, but how do you thk a gay uple and their children would be treated? Homophobic ments are expected, ther no avoidg that even if you live the Wt, but would be a safe place to raise a fay? BELGRADE, Serbia — Although the Serbian parliament guaranteed the untry’s LGBT cizens protectn 2009 by passg the hard-won Anti-Discrimatn Law, gay Serbs say their day-to-day realy is a nightmarish diversn om that egalarian legislatn.

This disnnect between law and practice leav gays and lbians vulnerable to vic verbal and physil attacks the streets, church and hom of their untry and also provis a challenge to the US and EU how bt to apply more aggrsive diplomatic tactics to enforce the prciple that gay rights are human rights. Jt weeks after the Obama admistratn unveiled a groundbreakg new foreign policy directg Amerin agenci workg abroad to step up their efforts to protect LGBT rights, the culture of fear that exists for gay Serbs unrsr both the need for this iative and what some crics feel is s weakns. So Serbian LGBTs say they are not optimistic about the lite procs of diplomacy, and particularly the US State Department's 'posive' approach to enuragg an embrace of gay rights whout any clear nsequence when a untry fails to improve s members of Serbia's gay muny, like a 23-year-old man om Vojvoda who spoke wh GlobalPost, are sperate for man, who asked that we intify him only by his ials, I.

J., to protect his inty out of fear for his life, has often experienced the btaly of a hyper-macho, homophobic mentaly that LGBT advot say is pervasive Serbia.

GAY DICTNARY SERBIAN

Activists say is a fiercely homophobic culture that begs wh the anti-gay teachgs of the Serbian Orthodox Church, further legimized by major polil figur and enforced by a vlent street culture of natnalist thugs and soccer hooligans. Though more than half of Serbians say they oppose vlence agast homosexuals, more than two thirds believe homosexualy is a disease.

LGBT Serbians and their alli report that the untry’s society is rabidly tolerant of sexual mori, often equatg gays and lbians wh the habants of the doomed Biblil ci of Sodom and Gomorrah, patg homosexualy as a Wtern import bent on stroyg the Serbian natn and s Christian relign. Although the Orthodox Church officially nmns any vlence mted agast gays, also award Interr Mister Ivi Dacic an honorary “Whe Angel” medal five days after he announced the ban on this year’s pri para.

VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY OF HIV: POSIVE HEALTH STAT GAY VIRTUAL INTIMACI SERBIA

Serbian relig and polil lears regularly support each other’s homophobic statements and actns, fuelg an aggrsive brand relig natnalism a untry still alg wh the bloody legacy of war and genoci — and still lookg for a spegoat.

“In last year's [Gay Straight Alliance] survey, 14 percent of rponnts said that vlence and beatgs are legimate ways to rpond to homosexualy.

BELGRA GAY IENDLY? - BELGRA FOM

The Obama admistratn’s LGBT policy, which treats gay rights as human rights matters of US diplomacy and foreign assistance, will be implemented by the US Embassy Belgra the g months, said prs attaché Brian Stimmler. Nevena Petsic, Serbia's first Commissner for Equaly, exprsed a sense of urgency about the state of Serbia’s gay muny, which she said "is exposed to threats, hate speech, discrimatn and vlence almost daily.

”Gay activists nsir the banng of the 2011 pri para yet another signal that enurag lol gangs to attack homosexuals and those they associate wh. Serbian gay anizatns pot the fger at policians and clerics of the Serbian Orthodox Church as the top of the Serbian homophobic Gay and Lbian Info Center (GLIC) blam Mister Dacic along wh Belgra Mayor Dragan Djilas and Jagoda Mayor Dragan Markovic Palma for open animosy toward Serbia’s domtic LGBT ncelg the para rather than protectg , the group believ, Dacic sent a msage that the gay muny uld not tst the police to shield om vlence. In 2009 he said Serbian police uld not guarantee protectn for the gay pri event bee anti-gay opponents had allegedly planned to fire projectil om the wdows of the nearby buildgs.

Amfilohije Radovic, a metropolan the Serbian Orthodox Church, clared homosexuals "the stench that poisoned and polluted Belgra, ” and charged that the Church "ph unr rpet" gays who are highly posned the Church hierarchy. The mutual rercement the Church and state provi one another their anti-gay polici is formidable, but voted LGBT rights activists have leveraged the 2009 Anti-Discrimatn Law to brg charg agast several lears and anti-LGBT actors.

BELGRA GAY GUI

In November the First Basic Court Belgra proclaimed Jagoda Mayor Markovic guilty of “severe discrimatn” agast the Serbian LGBT populatn a se brought agast him by the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA). In Augt 2010 a lbian anizatn lled LABRIS took aim at the Orthodox lear Radovic for his public ments agast homosexuals, g the Serbian Commissner for Equaly to orr Radovic to apologize publicly. Kristijan Zivanovic, 18, a member of the group "A ln Orthodox Christians agast queer para" stabbed gay German tourist Domic Miller, 18, while he was walkg wh his partner along the Sava River Belgra Augt 2010.

In 2008 the Serbian Medil Society nfirmed that homosexualy is not a disease, cg s membership the World Health Organizatn and ferrg to s opns. In December 2010 an openly gay lear, Boris Milicevic, joed the board of a Serbian polil party for the first time at the Assembly of the Socialist Party of Serbia. And October 2011 the Belgra Book Fair prented a special award to the Serbian edn of "Gay Life and Culture: A World History" by Robert Aldrich.

Markovic, for example, said he’d rather "keep sheep" Serbia than be a part of EU whose members support homosexuals.

PRI WEEK MGS: BEG GAY SERBIA

J., addg that Serbia remas a “European gay ghetto” as LGBTs n the risk of jury or ath bee of their sexual inti.