It was a normal day in Belgrade, although somewhat different in that hundreds of gays were marching to demonstrate their rights as individuals to express dignity and pride in who they are. However, right wing hooligans were not prepared to witness a gay pride parade in Belgrade and charged into marchers hitting them with fury. Fortunately, thousands of police were at the scene of the clashes and held back the attack. Anti-gay groups were not satisfied and fired shots and hurled bombs at the headquarters of the Democratic Party which they believe are sympathetic to the issue of gay rights. They marched down streets shouting, “death to homosexuals” and hurled Molotov cocktails and bricks at stores and cars along their march of mayhem. This was among the first gay pride marches in Belgrade which may have been a factor in the vicious of attacks on gays.
Fortunately, city streets have cameras and police are currently in the process of attempting to identify those who were part of the mob that caused over a hundred people to be injured. We inhabit a world in which hate all too often triumphs over respect for dignity of individuals.