Pride Caravan Hits the Road Again: First Pride Protests in Vranje and Pirot

Association Da se zna!, one of the organizers of this year’s Belgrade Pride, will once again organize Pride protests across Serbia as part of its Pride Caravan initiative. This year, the Caravan will visit Vranje, Pirot, Zaječar, Kraljevo, Šabac, and Loznica. On Saturday, 18 July, we will travel to Vranje and Pirot, cities where homophobia and transphobia remain a daily reality for many LGBT+ people, and where most LGBT+ individuals still feel compelled to hide their identities.

The slogan of this year’s Belgrade Pride, traditionally held in September, is “There Is Space for All of Us”, the very same slogan used during the first Pride in Belgrade in 2001, exactly 25 years ago. With this slogan, we want to emphasize that only a society that makes room for LGBT+ people, persons with disabilities, people of different faiths and nationalities, and every minority group can truly be a society of democracy, progress, and freedom.

Under the banner “There Is Space for All of Us,” the Pride Caravan will travel to six smaller cities across the country, where the lives of LGBT+ people are often significantly more difficult than in Belgrade or Novi Sad. In each of these cities, we will send a clear message: every city, every town, every public square, and every protest must have space for LGBT+ people. The LGBT+ community is an integral and inseparable part of this society, and the issues we face should matter to all our fellow citizens. Only through solidarity and mutual care can we build a society where there is space for all of us.

We invite the people of Vranje, Pirot, Zaječar, Kraljevo, Šabac, and Loznica to join us in these protests and in the fight for our rightful place in society.