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Eurovision organisers meet with Serbian officials over attack worries for LGBT fans
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Fear of homophobic violence at Eurovision
"The spokesman for the European Pride Organiser Association has written to the Eurovison host officials to make clear the LGBT communityââ¬â¢s worries about attending the music contest"
Serbian gay rights group, Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), organised a meeting between Serbian police officials and Eurovision organisers last week to try to get assurances that police will protect any LGBT visitors against homophobic attacks during the contest next month.
The fears come after Obraz, the Serbian fascist group, made clear their plans to attack the gay men who traditionally flock to Eurovision host cities in a Serbian daily newspaper a few weeks ago, threats which were taken seriously given that last year’s first Gay Pride march in the Serbian capital Belgrade ended in violence.
The spokesman for the European Pride Organiser Association, Kurt Krickler, has written to the Eurovison host officials to make clear the LGBT community’s worries about attending the music contest. “We are sure you are aware of the poor record of human rights in Serbia in general and regarding the human rights of lesbian, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people in particular,” he said.
The Belgrade Gay Pride event in 2001 left a number of people seriously injured after the crowd was attacked by fascist fundamentalists. The police did little or nothing to protect the pride marchers and the EPOA are now worried that the same extremists will attack LGBT visitors in May.
Police officials have said there will be a heavily increased police presence around the tourist attractions over the course of the contest, and Eurovision officials have said that their biggest priority is that “everybody has a great time.”
The contest will be held between the 20th and 24th of May, and is expected to be watched by over 100 million people worldwide.
