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| Belgrade Pride 2015 |
Belgrade Pride is over and I am on my way back to my site in Albania with a short stop in the capital. I can't help but wonder how my local community will react to my participation in this event. I have been posting a lot of photos, videos and news articles on Facebook lately about Belgrade Pride. I have also been quoted by the AP and AFP, so my name is starting to float all around the web for this event. There are also countless photos and videos of pretty much everyone there captured by hundreds of journalists in attendance. This was indeed a mass media event! I am hoping that I don't come home to villagers with pitchforks ready to drive the gay American out. It may be laughable, but it is a concern. The danger may not always be around, but it is REAL. Gossip spreads really fast here, and one step over the line can cost a volunteer his site.
I'm hoping all this coverage will reach the Serbian general population (in an appropriate way.) One never knows the angle a reporter will take. Depending on the hot topic du jour, one could place this event in a positive way or in a potentially harmful way. That is the power of the media - the former angle fostering harmony, the latter creating division.
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