Bosnia’s first-ever gay-pride parade will take place in September in the capital, Sarajevo, and will gather members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community from all over the country, activists and organizers say.
"Bosnia will finally have its pride march that will be held on September 8 in Sarajevo," Branko Culibrk, one of the organizers, told a news conference in Sarajevo on April 1.
Bosnia's law generally bans any discrimination but it does not recognize rights for gay couples.
In 2008 and 2014 hooligans and radical Islamists attacked participants of events in Sarajevo that sought to support the homosexual community.
"Pride marches take place everywhere in the region," said Dajana Bakic, an organizer of the Sarajevo march.
"The climate has generally changed and we expect that a large number of citizens will come to show solidarity with us," Bakic said.
Such events have recently become less controversial in the neighboring former Yugoslav republics of Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro. Mainly Muslim Kosovo held its first gay-pride march in October 2017 -- with the participation of President Hashim Thaci.
