'Traditional family day' to be held a day before Sarajevo's first pride event

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Svjetlo Association announced a peaceful walk on Saturday, from Sarajevo's Eternal Flame to the Parliament building, just a day before the first Pride event, under the slogan 'Traditional family day.'

Organisers said the aim of the peaceful walk is to point to the ‘naturalness’ of the traditional family in terms of science and religion, and the historic roots of the traditional family in the Bosnian society as well as the value of family as the basic pillar of the society.

After LGBT activists announced the first pride event in Sarajevo on September 8, many associations, politicians and individuals expressed their concerns and objections against such an event, stating it would harm Bosnia's traditional and religious values.

Canton Sarajevo's ruling party (People and Justice Party – NiP) even published a public statement arguing the Pride, which will consist of a peaceful march from the said Eternal Flame monument to the Bosnian Parliament building and a speech in front of the Parliament, would threaten the security situation in Sarajevo, calling on the police to reassess the condition for the maintenance of this event.

On the other hand, LGBT organisers said at their most recent press conference that “there is not a single credible reason why this country and this society should fall behind the rest of the region in any respect, including the holding of pride marches.”

They also reminded of past rulings by the Constitutional Court which determined that the “LGBTI persons had been denied freedom of assembly in the Sarajevo Canton.”

“A groundless ban of the BiH Pride March would constitute a violation of the Sarajevo Canton Law on Public Gatherings, and provide a basis for legal action which would likely result in more sanctions against the Sarajevo Canton Government,” they said.