Pride in Europe

The LGBTI pride and liberation day is usually observed on 28 June to commemorate the Stonewall riots. However, this day isn’t observed everywhere on the same day and the political and social contexts also differ.

In Europe, this summer there were two events to promote equal rights, but they were totally different. Copenhagen and Sarajevo are only 1,900 kilometres apart, yet the gap in terms of the rights that LGBTI people can exercise is huge.

In Copenhagen, from 13 to 18 August there was a whole week of festive and leisure activities, with the city totally committed: streets decorated with the rainbow flag, official buildings full of colour, discussions, concerts, parties and a massive march out in the streets. In Sarajevo, on 8 September, the first ever march was held in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The march gathered LGBTI activists that had been working for years and who, for the first time, were able to march in the streets to bring sense into their work, with government support. The march wasn’t held with full freedom, and threats were looming, yet 3,000 people took part.

Copenhagen is the capital of one of the 47 most advances states, socially and legislatively, in terms of the effective development of LGBTI rights. This year, the city is preparing for the events in 2021, when it will host the Worldpride and the Eurogames.

In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after the war with Serbia, same-sex relationships were decriminalized at different paces: in Bosnia and Herzegovina this happened in 1998; in the Republic of Srpska in the year 2000 and in the Brcko District in 2001. The ministry for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented the 2018-2020 Plan of Action last year for the equality of LGBTI persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although its implementation has been very unequal depending on the cantons and it hasn’t been fully implemented.

Copenhagen was clearly consolidating these rights and turned the Pride into a party, while Sarajevo made visible on the streets the demands and pushed forward for freedom. The organizers of the Sarajevo march said: “Nobody is free until we are all free”, in a clear call for respect towards diversity, adding that “Pride is also to support anyone who is left out in society; the Roma, migrants, people living with disabilities, religious minorities: equality should be for everyone”.In Europe, there are clear differences in terms of LGBTI rights; the regression in some countries doesn’t facilitate advancing, but the fight of activists out in the streets does push institutions to commit and fosters a social transformation.

In Europe, there are clear differences in terms of LGBTI rights; the regression in some countries doesn’t facilitate advancing, but the fight of activists out in the streets does push institutions to commit and fosters a social transformation.