Bosnian Religious Group to Protest Against Sarajevo LGBT Pride

Participants carry placards and rainbow colored flags during Sarajevo's first-ever gay pride parade, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on September 8, 2019. PHoto: EPA-EFE/Fehim Demir

The group called on Muslims and Christians to "join us against this plague".

"The Bible, like the Quran, condemns homosexuality!" it said in a Facebook post on Monday.

"This is a reaction to what we see as bringing things into the streets that we don't consider normal or acceptable. We have the democratic right to raise our voice against that and express our counter-stance," one of the organisers of the protest, Sanin Musa, a Salafi Muslim teacher who founded Faith People State, told BIRN.

A group called Iskorak (Step Forward), under Musa's leadership, organised protests against the first Pride parade that was held in Sarajevo in 2019.

On Tuesday, the organisers of the Pride march advised participants to maintain a low profile while arriving at the event, citing security concerns.

"Pay attention to who you are talking to and with whom you are sharing information about coming to the Parade. Use online maps if you don't know exactly where the gathering is," they said.

Lejla Huremovic, a member of the Bosnian Pride Parade organising board, said that everyone has the right to protest if they respect the law.

"What is most important for us is that any gathering wanting to send a message must not spread hate speech or call for violence," Huremovic told BIRN.

She said that the two gatherings will not be close to each other.

"We applied to hold a parade first, and according to the law we have primacy, so they were assigned a location that is not near the route of the Bosnian Pride Parade," Huremovic said.

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