The activists organising Bosnia’s first Pride Parade, which is to take place on Sunday, have received “a lot of support from citizens”, but the announcement has also “brought to the surface” all the hate toward members of the LGBTQ community in the country, one of the organisers, Lejla Huremovic, told N1 on Tuesday.
She said organisers expect some 500 people to participate in the event, but that this number could also be higher.
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She stressed that nobody who wants to participate needs to register beforehand.
“The Pride Parade is open for all people in the country and wider,” she said.
Huremovic said the organisers do not have an exact number of expected participants, but that they expect supporters to arrive from Podgorica, Belgrade, Zagreb, Skopje and Tirana and that “all activists from all over the region are coming to support the first Bosnian Pride Parade.”
Huremovic said that the organisers are maintaining contact with the Sarajevo Canton Interior Ministry and that the police force is treating the organisation of the event seriously.
“Security will be at a high level, as the event was characterised as a risky gathering,” she said, adding that organisers do not expect any security issues at the event.
The event will start at noon, and participants can join the gathering from 11 am onwards, she said, stressing that all those who wish to participate must join until noon.
“We are walking toward Bosnia’s Parliament building where we will finish our walk and hold speeches,” Huremovic said.
She said that while the organisers have received a lot of support from the citizens, the announcement that the first Pride Parade in Bosnia will take place has “brought all the hate which exists” toward LGBTQ people in the country to the surface and that the “online sphere is filled with hate speech.”
