The third BiH Pride March will be held on 25 June 2022 in Sarajevo under the slogan “Family Gathering”, the organisers announced.

According to a statement by the organisers, the overall socio-economic situation in the country, including rising prices of goods, unemployment, pressure, severe PTSD and other psychological problems that have emerged with the pandemic and current wars, as well as the numerous crises BiH citizens have been facing throughout the years, affect everyone, including LGBTIQ+ people.

“All of these problems are felt the most in our communities, as well as in our interpersonal and family relations. Therefore, we decided that the theme of this year’s pride march will be family, in hope that through discussion and questioning of this topic we will provide a broader understanding of what family really means and is today,” the statement said.

“ When we talk about the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, we can’t help but talk about the family. Everything that happens to an LGBTIQ+ person, good or bad, affects their family and society as a whole. We hope to create a space where, together, we will be able to send the message that family can be a place of happiness, support, love, and acceptance,” it said.

They explained that with the slogan “Family Gathering”, they wanted to send the message that the BiH Pride March “is a place where every one of us can be who we truly are, in hope that we will build spaces and places outside of the pride march that will be safe and supportive of sharing one´s authenticity.”

“With pride march, we want to contribute to the building of a society in which every person will belong to family gatherings and be an integrated part of them, whether we are talking about the primary family or the family that each grownup person builds for themselves. Today’s families are families with or without children (in marital and extramarital unions), single-parent families, adoptive families, and families in which the guardians are grandmothers, aunts, or uncles. Families are also families with same-sex partners. They do exist and are the reality of BiH society,” the statement said.

The organisers explained that family environments in which members “are forced to calculate, hide, lie, and have a conventional story prepared that meets family expectations of what we should be or how we should live or look, unfortunately, become environments of discomfort, violence, and we are reluctant to come to such family gatherings if we are even invited.”

“Coming out to a family is never an easy process for either side. Moreover, parents also need time to go through their own acceptance process, but it should not, as a rule, include rejection, conditioning, punishment, or violence. Conversations have the potential to help us connect with ourselves, but also to make us see each other in a more sincere and honest light,” they said.

“In an effort to build a society where diversity of everyone, including different kinds of families, is accepted, as well as a society where LGBTIQ+ people can have family relationships full of love, warmth and solidarity with parents, siblings, partners, friends, as well as the society as a whole, we invite you to share your stories and experiences with us through this year’s campaign and march. Diversity is our wealth!” the organisers stressed.