Gay pride
June 18, 2011
Croation authorities say an annual gay pride parade in the capital Zagreb on Saturday took place largely without incident.
Some 1,000 people took part in the parade with hundreds of policemen in riot gear surrounding them. There were only a few problems: Nine people were detained for making verbal insults, authorities said.
Several people held up banners saying, "We pray for your recovery from homophobia" and "Keep your head up Split, next year will be better."
Just a week ago, violence rocked the first gay pride parade held in Split, Croatia's second-largest city. The approximately 200 participants in the parade were far outnumbered by an estimated 10,000 protesters, some of whom hurled stones, bottles and bricks at the marchers.
A dozen people, including four journalists, were injured during the event. Police arrested about 28 people.
Anti-gay violence also occurred at Zagreb's first gay pride event in 2002. Events since then have gone without major incident, but have always had tight security.
Religious population
Croatian President Ivo Josipovic strongly condemned the violence, saying the gay pride event in Zagreb would be "another test for a democratic Croatia." Just a day before the violence in Split, it was announced that Croatia was ready to join the European Union on July 1, 2013.
Representatives of the United Nations in Croatia released a statement calling on "all parties to show tolerance and respect for diversity during the Zagreb Pride."
"The UN in Croatia is convinced that the violence and aggressive behavior demonstrated by protesters in Split... is not the true face of Croatia," the statement said.
About 88 percent of the 4.4 million living in the former Yugoslav republic are Roman Catholic. While the Croatian Bishops' Conference condemned "any kind of violence," many conservative Croatians point to the church's condemnation of homosexuality as justification for disrupting gay pride events.
Author: Andrew Bowen (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Kyle James