ZAGREB PRIDE 2007
Some slogans and banners that are the most significant for Zagreb Pride
• Love is love - the most significant slogan of Croatian LGBTIQ movement
• Gay is okay - the most famous Croatian and Serbian Pride slogan
• Jesus loves me - yelled on third Zagreb Pride
Banners:
• Come out of the silence
• Let's be brave
• Thanks to the goddess' that I'm a lesbian
• I'm a proud fag
• I'm sick of explaining
• Transgender is pretty
• Even heteros are people
• No sex before registration
• Homophobia is illness
• Sex education is schools!
• Fags and dykes against pedophilia
• I love who I want
• Long live perversity
• No to NATO
• Nothing is going to spoil this day for me
• I love Carla del Ponte (two way interpretation - identification with the "anti-icon" of far right wing population; or author’s lust of Carla's gender transgressive looks)
• Love is love - the most significant slogan of Croatian LGBTIQ movement
• Gay is okay - the most famous Croatian and Serbian Pride slogan
• Jesus loves me - yelled on third Zagreb Pride
Banners:
• Come out of the silence
• Let's be brave
• Thanks to the goddess' that I'm a lesbian
• I'm a proud fag
• I'm sick of explaining
• Transgender is pretty
• Even heteros are people
• No sex before registration
• Homophobia is illness
• Sex education is schools!
• Fags and dykes against pedophilia
• I love who I want
• Long live perversity
• No to NATO
• Nothing is going to spoil this day for me
• I love Carla del Ponte (two way interpretation - identification with the "anti-icon" of far right wing population; or author’s lust of Carla's gender transgressive looks)
Z a g r e b Pride 2007. July 7, Cvjetni Trg (The Flowers Square)
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήDear friends,
Zagreb Pride 2007 will take place from July 4 to 7 with logistical support from Queer Zagreb. The Pride March and concert will take place on Saturday, July 7 . This year we are proud to announce a new and improved Pride. As well as a varied programme and participation of other LGBTIQ groups from Croatia and the region, the march itself shall follow a new route through the city centre.
We will gather and begin the march at Trg maršala Tita , passing through the main square, Trg bana Jelačića , and end at Cvjetni Trg (Flowers Square) . This is the first time that the Zagreb Pride March shall converge in the political and social symbolic place of "public" and visibility . Namely, VISIBILITY of LGBTIQ persons, "occupying" public space, is the theme of Zagreb Pride 2007.
We regard visibility in public space to be one of the crucial aspects of our empowerment as LGBTIQ individuals. It is a way in which both symbolic and concrete messages are sent to general public about our existence and our needs and advocacy for human rights of many persons in this country are expressed publicly and transparently. At the same time, a message is sent promoting tolerance, mutual appreciation and respect.
Although many people would say that there has been increased visibility of LGBTIQ persons in the past five to six years in Croatia, this is just an illusion. While media presentation is predominantly positive, it often solely revolves around the concept ‘gay is ok’ or even worse, ‘to be gay is fun and trendy’. We are neither "ok" nor "fun and trendy". We are citizens of this country who do not want to be typecast as victims nor express our identity as merely ‘trendy’. We are not interested in this type of visibility as it does not contribute to full equality. We want to be visible in everyday life situations and practices. We do not want for heterosexuality to be attributed or assumed for anyone, we want to feel free to hold hands in the street, to kiss in an ordinary coffee shop, to bring our partner to Sunday lunch without reluctance. One of the ways to achieve that is through "occupying" the city and itscentral public space, Cvjetni Trg (Flowers Square), the epicentre of mainstream socialising in Zagreb.
Values that Zagreb Pride promotes are: equality, diversity, peace/anti-militarism, preservation of nature and laicism . These values stem from a queer-feminist platform, combating sexism and homo/bi/transphobia and the international LGBTIQ movement, opposing all forms of violence against animals, and the promotion of liberal, green and peace oriented politics.
We believe freedom of assembly to be our constitutional right, an integral aspect of a liberal democracy. However, in the past years at Pride, there were some restrictions of the right to the freedom of assembly as well as freedom of speech and expression, primarily by police .
Through our choice of a new March route and venue we hope to reduce the sense of isolation (previously imposed upon us during Zagreb Pride by the fences erected at Zrinjevac park), thus increasing the visibility of LGBTIQ persons .
Activities of Zagreb Pride are:
Screeening of documentary films on Pride events and trans issues
Round table "Visibility - right to public"
Variety of cultural-artistic events including performers from Croatia and beyond
The Pride March
Party celebrating five years of activism, organized by Gay.hr portal
International Pride Events
Since 1969, Pride marches have been held in many countries around the world, under many names, but most often as Pride or Christopher Street Day (CSD). During the night of June 27th/28th 1969, a clash took place between demonstrators and police following the raiding of the Stonewall Inn bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, New York. This event is considered to be the beginning of the modern LGBTIQ rights movement. Many of guests who differed from stereotypical gender expressions (transvestites, butch lesbians) and staff of the bar refused to silently endure police brutality during frequent raids and resisted police when they tried to take them into custody. Transvestites, lesbians and gays, joined by members of the working classes, resisted repression for the first time. They were joined by members of anti-war, civil rights, women's and leftist political movements. The event turned into a seven day long series of street demonstrations against the discrimination of lesbians and gays as well as against discrimination and police repression in a more general context.
That year, a whole new generation emerged, who identified as "gay", which additionally to sexual orientation (homo/bisexual) meant a radically new basis of self-identification in terms of open political activism. The largest part of LGB(TIQ) activism today is considered to be a continuation of this movement, both worldwide and in Croatia.
Through the Pride events and March, we, LGBTIQ persons, celebrate our pride and show our existence, but also warn about discrimination and problems we face - invisibility, lack of acceptance, violence, denial of basic civil and human rights.
The first Zagreb Pride took place on June 29, 2002. The aim was to inform the public of systematic discrimination and violations of our human rights in Croatia. For the first time, we, LGBTIQ persons, jointly came out in public. Despite the fact that the event was generally peaceful, tear gas was thrown at participants and during the event 32 persons were physically hurt and psychologically maltreated. Nobody has ever been held responsible for the tear gas. Since then however, Zagreb Pride has taken place as a peaceful and successful event, passing off without major incident, which, unfortunately cannot be said for our everyday lives.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee of Zagreb Pride:
Ana Piponska, Daniel(a) Šurjan, Marko Jurčić, Franko Dota and Jelena Poštić
Zagreb Pride 2007 is supported by:
Queer Zagreb (Zagreb)
Inqueersition (Zagreb)
Queerilica (Zagreb)
LORI (Rijeka)
Women's Room - Center for Sexual Rights (Zagreb)
Iskorak – Center for Rights of Sexual and Gender Minorities (Zagreb)
KUGA - Cultural-Street Gay Action (Zagreb)
Initiative Queer (Zadar)
Center for Peace Studies (Zagreb)
ZaMir (Zagreb)
Croatian Youth Network
Direct Action Zadar (Zadar)
Miks (Zagreb)
Neo AFŽ (Zagreb)
Multimedial Institute (Zagreb)
Labin Art Express (Labin)
BAD.co (Zagreb)
CESI – Center for Education, Counseling and Research (Zagreb)
Volunteer center Zagreb (Zagreb)
DIH - Association for Intergation of Homosexuality (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Lambda – Center for Promotion and Advancement of LGBT Human Rights and Queer Culture (Niš and Kragujevac, Serbia)
MASSO – Macedonian Association for Free Sexual Orientation (Skopje, Macedonia)
Association Q for Promotion and Protection of Culture, Identities and Human Rights of Queer Persons (Sarajevo, Bosna-Herzegovina)
ACCEPT (Buchurest, Romania)
Christopher Street Day Zürich 2007
Ljubljana Pride 2007 (Slovenia)
Gayfest 2007 (Romania)