Thousands of Orthodox Christians took to the streets in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on Sunday evening to support the government’s cancellation of Europride. As a photographer reported to the AFP news agency, the demonstrators carried icons of saints, crosses and religious flags through the city center and sang and prayed.
At the end they gathered in front of the Cathedral of Saint Sava. Bishop Nikanor commended the government’s decision to end “the desecration of our country, our church and our family”. The believers are ready to take to the streets again “to oppose those who want to destroy Serbia’s values”.
As seen in video footage released by the Glas Yavnosti news website, the bishop called non-heterosexual lifestyles an “abnormality” that should be dealt with like in the Russia of Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin. The bishop referred to him as the “Tsar of the Planet”.
Observers of the demonstration also reported on Putin posters and photos of Nazi collaborator Draza Mihailovic.
The Serbian head of state Aleksandar Vucic announced on Saturday that the Europride planned for mid-September in Belgrade would be cancelled. “The Pride march, or whatever you want to call it, is being postponed or cancelled,” he said.
As justification, he referred to “all sorts of problems” in his country, including bottlenecks in energy and food supplies. The organizers want to stick to the date.
Europride is a major pan-European event of the LGTBQ movement, which has been organized in a different European country every summer since 1992. The English abbreviation LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
This year, Europride was scheduled to take place in the Serbian capital from September 12th to 18th; the penultimate day was for the Pride March, which is comparable to the Christopher Street Day parade.
The Serbian Orthodox Church has historically played an important role in influencing public opinion about gay, lesbian and other sexual minorities. She branded the Pride parades in Belgrade as a “shame”.
