Europe
EuroPride begins in Serbia amid far-right protests
Country’s president on Tuesday announced march is banned
Officials from EuroPride and Belgrade Pride commemorated the start of EuroPride 2022 in the Serbian capital with a ceremonial flag raising Monday as the event gets underway this week.
Concerns however, have been raised over safety for attendees and participants in the wake of massive anti-LGBTQ demonstrations and the government of Serbia issuing a ban.
During a routine Saturday press conference two weeks ago, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that the international EuroPride event scheduled to be held from Sept. 12-18 was cancelled.
In his remarks the Serbian leader told reporters that his government had come under intense pressure from far right-wing groups and the leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church to cancel the event. Vucic acknowledged that LGBTQ rights and people in the Balkan nation were under siege and threatened. However he deflected on the issue, “It is not a question of whether [those pressures] are stronger,” he said. “It’s just that at some point you can’t achieve everything, and that’s it.”
Undaunted, EuroPride and Belgrade Pride defiantly announced that the event would go on as scheduled.
“President Vucic cannot cancel someone else’s event. EuroPride is not cancelled, and will not be cancelled,” European Pride Organizers Association President Kristine Garina said.
“During the bidding process for EuroPride 2022, (the) prime minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic promised the full support of the Serbian government for EuroPride in Belgrade, and we expect that promise to be honored,” she added.
The kick-off was also attended by U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Christopher R. Hill who tweeted:
“Gratified to see a safe, secure start to #EuroPride2022. Congratulations @BelgradePride, @CDREurope, and the entire team of organizers behind @EuroPride. Looking forward to a week of great events with safety, security, and basic freedoms guaranteed for all.”
Gratified to see a safe, secure start to #EuroPride2022. Congratulations to @BelgradePride, @CDREurope, and the entire team of organizers behind @EuroPride. Looking forward to a week of great events with safety, security, and basic freedoms guaranteed for all. pic.twitter.com/H3JtUK6xEA
— Ambassador Christopher R. Hill (@usambserbia) September 12, 2022
On Sunday, several thousands of protesters took to the streets of Belgrade, many carrying huge Serbian and Russian flags, chanting pro-Russia, pro-Vladimir Putin and anti-LGBTQ slogans and marching to Belgrade’s St. Sava cathedral for prayers.
Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije led clerics and faithful in a prayer “for the sanctity of marriage and family” that accused “invisible forces” of imposing “ungodly and unnatural unions as a substitute for marriage and family.”
Radio Free Europe/Liberty reported that Brnabic, who is openly lesbian and was a participant in a 2017 Pride event in Belgrade, declined to intervene to support holding the EuroPride events in light of the ban decreed by Vucic.
She responded angrily on Monday to a local newspaper editor who accused Brnabic of selling out the LGBTQ community to become a “Progressive,” a reference to Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, which she joined after becoming prime minister as an independent five years ago.
Brnabic accused the editor and other “enlightened elites” of cubbyholing gay people as incapable of holding diverse political views.
“[To them] if you’re gay, you can only be gay, period. It’s the only thing that defines you,” Brnabic tweeted. “You are not the prime minister — but LGBT.”
The translation of the tweet below reads: “The essence of discrimination that the “enlightened elite” neither sees nor cares about. If you’re gay, you can just be gay, period. It’s the only thing that defines you. You are not the prime minister — but LGBT. You are not a member of SNS — but LGBT. And they don’t see a single problem with it, they think it’s something smart.”
Суштина дискриминације коју нити види “просвећена елита” нити их то интересује. Ако си геј, можеш да будеш само геј и тачка. То је једино што те дефинише. Ниси премијер – него ЛГБТ. Ниси члан СНС – него ЛГБТ. И не виде ни један проблем у томе, већ мисле да је то нешто паметно. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/DbEN1xMLGk
— Ana Brnabic (@anabrnabic) September 12, 2022
There has been violence at previous Pride events being held in the Serbian capital city, most notably on Oct. 10, 2010, when anti-LGBTQ and ultra nationalist anti-government protesters fought with about 5,000 armed Serbian police resulting in 78 police officers and 17 civilians that were injured some seriously and more than 100 arrests and detentions.
The violence also severely damaged the car-park building of the ruling pro-European Democratic Party in an act of arson, the state television building and the headquarters of other political parties were also damaged.
The rioting came as Serbia was seeking admittance as a European Union member state.
A spokesperson for the ILGA-Europe said that since 2014 Pride events were held in Belgrade under mostly peaceful conditions, but there is extreme pushback from the ultra-nationalist groups and especially those groups aligned with the Orthodox Church.
On Tuesday, the European Union’s Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, issued a statement regarding Serbia’s stance on EuroPride and the ban by Vucic:
“It is highly regrettable that the Serbian authorities have decided to ban the EuroPride march scheduled for Sept. 17. Weeks of uncertainty concerning the holding of this march have sent a wrong message to the public and made space for hateful rhetoric and more threats against LGBTI people, including from religious leaders,” said Mijatović.
“Instead of bowing to threats and hate by banning the EuroPride march, the Serbian authorities have the responsibility to ensure that everyone in society can exercise their right to enjoy the same freedoms and is equal in dignity.” Mijatović noted continuing:
“As I have stressed in my conversations with the Serbian authorities at the highest level over the past two weeks, the fact that EuroPride takes place in Serbia this week is also of great significance for the south-eastern European region, where much still needs to be done to combat discrimination and hate against LGBTI people. Hosting EuroPride sends the signal that the march toward equality is in progress. It is positive that Pride marches have taken place peacefully in recent years in Belgrade, Sarajevo, Tirana, Podgorica and Skopje and I call on the Serbian authorities to be on the right side of history by enabling a peaceful and safe EuroPride march next Saturday.”
The Vatican
Pope Leo XIV: Family based on ‘stable union between a man and a woman’
American-born pontiff met with Vatican diplomats on May 15
Pope Leo XIV on May 15 reaffirmed Vatican doctrine that says marriage is between a man and a woman.
The Associated Press reported Leo told Vatican diplomats the family is created upon the “stable union between a man and a woman.” Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and dozens of other world leaders on Sunday attended the American-born pontiff’s installation Mass that took place in St. Peter’s Square.
The College of Cardinals earlier this month elected Leo to succeed Pope Francis, who died on April 21.
Francis, who was from Argentina, was a vocal opponent of the country’s marriage equality law that took effect in 2010. He was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, when then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed it.
Francis in 2020 publicly backed civil unions for gays and lesbians. Francis in 2023 said priests can bless same-sex couples.
The College of Cardinals on Thursday elected Cardinal Robert Prevost from Chicago as the Catholic Church’s next pope.
Leo XIV’s election took place less than three weeks after Pope Francis died at Casa Santa Marta, his official residence at the Vatican. The conclave to choose his successor began on Wednesday.
Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago in 1955, is the first American pope.
Leo XIV was bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru from 2015-2023. Francis made him a cardinal in 2023
“We salute the appointment of the new Pope Leo XVI,” said the U.S. Embassy in Peru on X.
“A celebration for the world’s Catholics, and a joy especially shared between the American people and the Peruvian people. From Chicago to Chiclayo.”
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), a gay man of Peruvian descent, also congratulated Leo XIV.
“As a Catholic and Peruvian American, I wish Pope Leo XIV strength as he steps into his role as a global and spiritual leader,” said the California Democrat on X. “He has demonstrated that he believes in justice for the poor and immigrants. May his leadership reflect these ideals as he spreads peace across the world.”
As a Catholic and Peruvian American, I wish Pope Leo XIV strength as he steps into his role as a global and spiritual leader. He has demonstrated that he believes in justice for the poor and immigrants. May his leadership reflect these ideals as he spreads peace across the world.
— Congressman Robert Garcia (@RepRobertGarcia) May 8, 2025
Francis died on April 21 at Casa Santa Marta, his official residence at the Vatican. The conclave to choose the Argentine pontiff’s successor began on Wednesday.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under Francis’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial on April 26.
The New York Times reported Leo XIV in a 2012 speech to bishops specifically cited “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children” when he said Western media and popular culture has promoted “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel”
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, a group that represents LGBTQ Catholics, traveled to Rome for the conclave.
She told the Washington Blade in a text message from St. Peter’s Square shortly after Leo XIV’s election that she “heard him speak” last October and “found him thoughtful and gently challenging.”
“[He] hasn’t said a lot since early 2010s. [I] hope he has evolved,” said Duddy-Burke. “His commitment to synodality is a hopeful sign.”
Her group later issued a statement.
“This election appears to signal a willingness to continue building on Pope Francis’s commitment to synodality and social justice,” said DignityUSA. “We pray that the needs of those whom our church has historically marginalized, including LGBTQ+ people and their families, will continue to be heard and addressed by the Vatican and other church leaders.”
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic organization, in a statement said there is “a special pride in having the first pope from the United States, his longtime ministry in Latin America most likely had an equally formative influence on his spirituality and approach to church issues.” DeBernardo, however, criticized Leo XIV’s 2012 comments.
“We pray that in the 13 years that have passed, 12 of which were under the papacy of Pope Francis, that his heart and mind have developed more progressively on LGBTQ+ issues, and we will take a wait-and-see attitude to see if that has happened,” he said.
“We pray that as our church transitions from 12 years of an historic papacy, Pope Leo XIV will continue the welcome and outreach to LGBTQ+ people which Pope Francis inaugurated,” added DeBernardo. “The healing that began with ‘Who am I to judge?’ needs to continue and grow to ‘Who am I, if not a friend to LGBTQ+ people?'”
DignityUSA agreed.
“We express concern with the former Cardinal’s statements — as reported in the New York Times — in a 2012 address to bishops, where he stated that Western news media and popular culture fostered ‘sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel’ including the ‘homosexual lifestyle’ and ‘alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.'” We note that this statement was made during the papacy of Benedict XVI, when doctrinal adherence appeared to be expected,” said the organization in its statement. “In addition, the voices of LGBTQ people were rarely heard at that level of church leadership. We pray that Pope Leo XIV will demonstrate a willingness to listen and grow as he begins his new role as the leader of the global church.”
The Vatican
Executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group to travel to Rome for conclave
Marianne Duddy-Burke met Pope Francis in 2023
The executive director of a group that represents LGBTQ Catholics will travel to Rome next week for the papal conclave that starts on May 7.
DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke on Thursday told the Washington Blade she will arrive in Rome on May 6. Duddy-Burke said she plans to spend time in St. Peter’s Square “and have conversations with people.”
“I will wear Dignity insignia, have rainbow flags,” she said.
Pope Francis died on April 21. His funeral took place five days later.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial on April 26.
Duddy-Burke and two others from the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics met with Francis in October 2023 during a meeting that focused on the Catholic Church’s future. Duddy-Burke noted Francis “invited” her and her colleagues as his “special guests for the audience and then had a conversation with him afterwards.”
“For me the sort of visibility that he (Francis) brought to our community and to our concerns feels irreversible,” said Duddy-Burke. “He empowered so many people and so many new ministries.”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu — the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo who has described homosexuality as an “abomination” — is among the cardinals who are reportedly in the running to succeed Francis.
“I really don’t know,” said Duddy-Burke when the Blade asked her who the next pope will be. “Of course, I am hoping and praying hard that it will be someone who will continue to lead the church on responsiveness of human need and greater inclusivity.”
“What happens in that room is such a mystery,” she added.
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