|
|
 Belgrade Lesbians and Gay Men are Attacked and Injured Serbian Nationalists and Soccer Hooligans Kick & Punch |
|
Compiled By GayToday
"We are here to prevent immorality in Serbia,'' an attacker told B-92 radio. Others, shouted "Serbia is not a gay country.'' In a communiqué dated Saturday June 30, 2001, a Belgrade-based feminist, Jasmina Tesanovic, told GayToday: "It was supposed to be a feast, the first public demonstration of the gay lesbian movement, celebrating their international day, in the main Square of the Republic, where all our democratic history has happened. "The only thing we feared, was bad weather. OK, let's be honest, a big amount of homophobia has been going on for years in Serbia, strengthened by the wars, nationalism...But also marginalized by all those men's issues, the latest being the extradition of Milosevic, the guy who was the role model for many of those 'manly behaviors', which included bombing, killings, ethnic cleansing and finally mass graves on our doorsteps, under our living bodies.
"I heard a cameraman standing next to me say: now this will last only a few seconds, no way such a thing will pass in Serbia. I wanted to answer him , 'no way, this is my Serbia too,' but I was already in guard. After a few seconds I was overtaken by the stampede of a wild lot running to the other side of the square: I spotted the gay group with balloons singing. I ran towards them too: it was a few hundred screaming, insulting violent people against the few. "The police were invisible, here and there one could spot a special forces guy. The flock attacked the small group which begin to disperse in all directions. "I followed a few of them: next thing I saw was a unknown guy to me with dyed blonde hair being repeatedly beaten with sticks. His head was bleeding, his nose...My friend was trying to drag him away, ten policemen made a circle around us, but hundreds of them were breaking the circle. "There were many journalists, with cameras...I felt utterly helpless and lost. But the police started shooting into the air, the hooligans draw back for a second, the next minute they were hurling with screams "whores, degenerates" towards the square again. "And there were other common policemen standing and watching: as they hit a woman from a feminist group giving and an interview, throwing eggs at anybody who seemed a participant...as a girl passer bye was dragged and insulted. "With two other friends we started going towards the Students Cultural Center: a group of guys followed us, insulting us and spitting on us, among crowds of common people. "My friend turned around and said: 'calm down honey'...I felt like killing him. The passers-by were commenting in different ways, mostly, 'why bother with queers, kill them all, they are ruining our clean Serbia.' "Some were just afraid or dumbfounded. Nobody I heard said: 'let them be, they are people as we are, they have their human rights.'
"We arrived at the center, it was closed, police forces were
all around and some women onlookers were screaming to them: 'So you
voted for democracy and this is what you get, you should protect us,
the straights, you assholes, because these decent men are protecting
our honor.'
"A very ugly fat elderly man was screaming and sweating, 'Give me the lesbians I want to rape them.'. "We just stood and watched, giving interviews to all who wanted to hear our statement. The only words I c ould say was, 'This is my Serbia too...this is fascism.' "Only afterwards, in the center, when hooligans were being arrested and broken into small groups, I managed to put a more complex picture together: "Milosevic is now in The Hague, the hooligans are frustrated and instead of beating their wives and children, they are beating everything that doesn't resemble their picture of a patriot. Later still, while sitting in the women's center and trying to see how many people were hurt ( 8 policemen and about 8 civilians) all of us admitted that this kind of violence and reaction never happened before and it was , notwithstanding all the fears, definitely not spontaneous. "We gave many interviews, there were many crews, but after a few broadcasts of spontaneous news, the official version became; a conflict between homosexuals and their opponents. The official statement of the chief of the police ran the same: 'Everything is under control, thanks to brave policemen.' " Three days before the meeting was officially reported to the police, leaflets from the right-wing organization had threatened violence. The official statement made by police is not enough for me. I know better, that behind that huge organized mass of violent ethnically superior patriots, besides the radical party, homophobic organizations, illiterate democrats, is a bigger issue: the silent majority...including the people in power, those from the ex-regime and these today. "These violent people, in few words, would say that Serbs have suffered enough disgrace and dishonor to have this latest shame in public...digging dead Albanian bodies is just about enough. And these same people hoping to purify the nation's self-esteem would love to impose religion in schools, restrict abortion, cut the voices of the minorities, ethnic or sexual. "Now, I still tremble from fear I suffered, maybe the biggest in my life, because it was personal and yet the deed impersonal, as lynching is. But I do not want to speak or let my comrades speak as victims. "This is an occasion, no matter how painful it is to speak out, to denounce, to claim the justice, the names of the organizers. Getting rid of Miosevic and digging dead bodies from mass graves is not enough, We have to get rid of all small Milosevics cruising around our cities and our lives and dig out of our consciences and bodies all of the intolerance and homophobia that for many years has been neglected and upheld. "I want to stay upright and say this is my Serbia too, though I am a woman, a marginal, a feminist...whatever...I want to strike back at those who denounce outlaws and marginals, those who use violence and hate. This is why I am writing this message, to all, demanding support and publicity. |
