Hot Topic - Gearin' up for Belgrade Pride!

Belgrade Pride 2010 - Photo credit: http://kaosgl.org/page.php?id=9540

I will attending a conference in Belgrade, Serbia this week at the invitation of an organization in Albania called Civil Rights Defenders. The focus will be Belgrade LGBT Pride. Wow. Let that sink in for a moment.

If Serbia is not the first place you associate with LGBT Pride, you are not alone. Many Americans only recall Serbia from its role in bloody rivalries and wars for independence during post-Yugoslavia days of the early 1990's. Words like Croats, Serbs, and Bosnians were thrown around like hot coals from journos setting the fears of many an American ablaze. This is not the place where one throws a Pride. Or is it?

The struggle for LGBT rights in this land-locked Eastern European country has not been easy. Back in 2010, the parade was seen with an anti-gay riot . Some 5,000 police held back the anti-gay rioters from event participants.

Belgrade Pride 2010: Photo from: http://kaosgl.org/

Truth be told, after I read this, I was initially somewhat nervous about going. But never once did I think twice about wanting to go. This is what I need to do. I need to help people here. I need to be there because other people can't. I need to show up and do my part because other LGBT individuals will die if I don't. I need to march, because somebody marched for me in 1970 in San Francisco. I wouldn't have the life I have today if they didn't. We'd still be living the Anita Bryant era of horror and BS.

I was able to attend the first LGBT March in Albanian history last year (although there has been an annual LGBT bike ride each year that started around 5 years ago). This year I will be able to attend another groundbreaking march. Although it may not be the first pride parade there, it is so very important. I thought of Albania's bloody feuds with the so-called neighbors to the north. After the conflict between Albania and Serbia over Kosovo's independence from Serbia, the two countries still seem to keep their distance. (Including the infamous Albania-Serbia futbol match). Political relations between the two seem amicable, yet with a seeming undercurrent of resentment over Kosovo.

Tirana Gay Ride 2014!

All politics aside, I will be there on a completely different capacity. I will be there to support Belgrade Pride and the Balkan LGBT Community. Previous years saw conflict, violence and civil unrest. As with any civil rights movement, things are getting better. Just how much better it is now? Well, I suppose we will find out. With many of the Balkan's best LGBT activists gathered together, the stage is set for quite a spectacle. And what a spectacle it will be.