Montenegro holds Pride march despite church opposition

Several hundred people joined a march on Saturday LGBTQ Pride in Montenegro, held amid strong opposition from the influential Serbian Orthodox Church in the small conservative Balkan country.

The 10th Montenegro Pride event took has been dubbed "No More Buts", reflecting demands for more efforts to stem hate speech and harassment of the LGBTQ community despite the huge progress made in recent years.

"We have gathered here for the 10th time to show that we are human, (that we are) living beings made of flesh and blood, wishes and dreams, but rejected and ignored, discriminated and trampled because of love,” said activist Stasa Bastrica.

Montenegro is a very conservative, male-dominated society and the marches here have been marred by violence. the country is seeking to join the European Union, authorities have backed pride events in recent years and endorsed same-sex partnerships in 2020.

On the eve of the march, the influential Serbian Orthodox Church of Montenegro held a prayer protest on Friday against the pride march, saying it jeopardizes traditional values ​​and the family.Hundreds of people attended the church-led protest, including pro- Serbs.

The Serbian church, which also has imp ortant supporters in Montenegro, held a similar rally in Serbia ahead of a pan-European pride event last time out. months.

After separating from Serbia in 2006, Montenegrins remained divided between those who support pro-Western policies and those who favor closer ties with other Slavic countries, Serbia and Russia. Pro-Western leaders in Montenegro have accused Serbia and its church of seeking to maintain their influence and distract Montenegro from the West.

Bastrica said the church and other conservative forces in Montenegro have fueled hatred against the LGBTQ community by "making us the main enemy of the majority and...incredibly blaming us for the disappearance of marriage, family (values) and sometimes natural disasters, and all in the name of God.”

Another activist, Danijel Kalezic, said the rally led by the church of Friday had illustrated the divisions in Montenegro. He insisted that the LGBTQ community will not give up on their demands.

"We don't want them (the officials) to come here and take pictures with us," Kalezic said. "We want results. No more buts!"

The Serbian Church in Montenegro also led weeks of protest ahead of the 2020 elections that toppled pro-government authorities. -Western powers and paved the way for the formation of a pro-Serb government. A former Slavic ally of Russia in the Balkans, Montenegro challenged Moscow in 2017 to join NATO.