Agim Margilaj, from the  Center for Social Group Development – CSGD -, tells us more about how this happened

Is holding a public march in Kosovo a “risky business”?

Kosovo is a very homophobic country. In a recent survey, only 3% of people said they would support their own children if they were LGBT. The community is very small and most people won’t come out publicly. So, holding a march is indeed quite a challenge.

So how was the situation of public campaigning in Kosovo before that historic IDAHOT march in May 2016 ? Had something that exciting happened before ?

The coalition of LGBT organisations in the country (us, CEL and QESH) has been celebrating IDAHOT since 2014. The first year we wanted to test the ground and we organised a discreet event with 60 people, mainly international allies. As it worked well, we scaled up the year after with a larger event attended by 200-so people, including national institutions. Each time, we were careful not to communicate with the media ahead of the events, so as not to generate counter protest.

Else, there have been some public messaging such as street banners or facebook campaign, but nothing on a very large scale

Was the IDAHOT 2016 event different in nature?

The previous actions had been essentially about visibility, without any clear political ask. It was mainly to “dance against Homophobia”.

This time, we were determined to be more political and to include specific demands, in this case the right to register same-sex partnerships. This right is in theory guaranteed by our 2008 constitution which explicitly lists Sexual Orientation as a ground on behalf of which discrimination is forbidden. Our current family law therefore breaches our Constitution.

So we decided to hold the IDAHOT march under the argument that “Our love is Constitutional”, and to demand access to the rights which the Constitution already grants us.

How did the preparations go?

We had early confirmation from the Municipality that they would allow the march, and from the police that we would have protection.

We had trouble in previous years to get the authorisation but we complained so much that the city authorities are now much more supportive.

Two months ahead of the day, we started reaching out to institutions, allies, foreign support, etc.

We basically invited everybody to join, but weren’t expecting more support than the year before, when only a handful of national bodies sent representation.

We got early confirmation of the support from foreign Embassies and from the EU. The US Embassy even hired a US band to play in the central city square at the end of the march.

Ulrike Lunacek, Kosovo Rapporteur, Vice President of the EU Parliament and co-chair of the EUP intergroup on LGBT rights, who was in the country for other purposes very naturally decided to attend the march.

And on the day itself?

We had invited the President along with all the other national institutions but he actually sent no information and literally just showed up!

When he was elected, he couldn’t even get the LGBT acronym right but he obviously has very high capacity staff, and he delivered convincing speeches against discrimination.

In any case, LGBT people are certainly not popular enough in the country for his action to be considered “pink-washing”, even though the EU accession process obviously constituted an essential motivation for his presence.

Interestingly, many institutions followed in his wake, with the Ministers of Justice and EU integration also being present, and with representations from the Prime Ministers office, the Ombudsman, etc.

How was the public reaction?

The march itself was peaceful. We had strong police protection but it doesn’t look like there were threats planned.

The attendance of the President logically attracted a lot of media, and the march was covered in every single media outlet, almost minute by minute. The media attention was sustained over 5 or 6 days after the march, with many TV shows and top news features. Overall, there has been no negative coverage. At worst, the media kept a neutral tone.

There hasn’t been much direct reaction from the general public, neither negative or positive. But we definitely received many more contacts from LGBT people, especially from remote parts of the country, who reported hate speech and other incidents. These are people who might not have known that we existed before we got this extensive media coverage.

And now?

The success of this action is encouraging us to continue in this direction.

Find more pictures here:

Pristina celebrated the International day against homo-, trans- and biphobia (IDAHOT) on Sunday, 17th of May.

This important event “Walk and Dance against Homophobia” organized by three NGO’s, CEL, CSGD and QESh, gathered together individuals, organizations and embassies to march for the rights of the LGBTI-community.

The participants enjoyed the sun, laid-back atmosphere and good music. Vlora Krasniqi, the executive director of QESh, thanked the participants for standing up against homophobia in Kosovo. Later in the evening Kosovo’s government building was lit with the colors of rainbow for the second time in its history.

On Monday Ms. Anne Meskanen, Chargée d’Affaires of the Embassy of Finland, gave a speech in the conference “LGBT community rights fulfillment in the Republic of Kosovo”.

Ms.Meskanen highlighted the responsibility of Kosovo’s government to show its support for the LGBT-community and to openly speak for the sexual minorities.

Kosovo witnessed a milestone May 17 celebration this year, with the involvement of politicians and the guarantee of effective security measures by the police. The Kosovo Government building also reflected rainbow colors at night on May 17.

On May 17, a rainbow march led by politicians took place, where dozens of people marched through ʺMother Teresaʺ Pristina Square on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Vlora Çitaku, the Vice President of PDK (Democratic Party of Kosovo) and the Minister of European Integration, was also at the public event. British Ambasaador, Ian Cliff, and the Minister walked to Pristina’s main square together with activists.

The motto of the parade was ʺHomosexuality is not a disease, hatred is”. Meanwhile, uniformed police officers followed the march to ensure the safety of participants.

With USAID support, Qendra për Emancipim Shoqëror Kosovo (QESh)/ Center for Social Emancipation  conducted a successful public awareness campaign in honor of the 2014 International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). The organization handed out promotional materials, released colored balloons from the Newborn sign in downtown Pristina, and coordinated with the Government of Kosovo to light the government building in rainbow pride colors for the evening.

Kosovo also hosted a culture night for IDAHOT. The Gender Equality Movement (GEM), organized the night at an alternative art space, with artists of all different nationalities, sexual orientations and gender identities. The organizers presented their new video vlog about LGBTQ rights in Kosovo. The goal was to bring the community together and create a platform to share experiences, stories and contacts, and also to have fun!

More information

• Center for Gender Equality: Facebook page

GEM will organize a culture night at an alternative art space with artists from different nationalities, sexual orientations and gender identities. The organizers will present their new video blog about LGBTQ rights in Kosovo.
The goal is to bring the community together and create a platform to share experiences, stories and contacts. And of course to also have fun!
The organizers do not have any financial resources for the events in May. Please contact to organisers if you would like to support this fantastic all voluntary work!
More about the organisation can you find here.