Zagreb Pride Amidst Peril
Though considered a success by Zagreb's gay community, Saturday's gay pride event in Croatia was marred by violence. About 300 people participated in the rally in Zrinjevac Park, including several members of Parliament and Croatian Interior Minister, Sime Lucin, who addressed the crowd saying, "Love each other and fight for your rights." Almost as many police as participants were present, protecting marchers from verbal and physical abuse that included 'volleys of tear-gas canisters.' Neo-Nazis rallied at the west side of Zrinjevac Park, yelling such eloquences as, "Go to Serbia," "Kill the Serb," "Fags to concentration camps," "Heil Hitler," "Sieg heil," "Die," and "We are Aryan;" though most of the real trouble came from a group of about 20 young men, some of whom carried Molotov cocktails. 10 people were injured, with two needing medical attention, and eight arrests were made.
Though supported by the current government, this is not the first time that Croatia's LGBT community has fought fierce opposition to peaceful demonstrations of pride. Zagreb's first Pride event was held in 2002 to much fanfare, and last year several tourists perceived as gay were attacked at resorts along Croatia's popular Adriatic coast. Croatia's gay and lesbian community says it regularly faces prejudice, discrimination, job dismissals and physical assault in Croatia, whose population of 4.4 million is nearly 90 percent Roman Catholic. The remaining 10 percent are largely made up of Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
Comments
I would definately rcemoend Croatia! Dubrovnik is great for couples in love and very romantic! am Croatian, but I live somewhere else. My family comes from Split which is on the Dalmatian coast. I have travelled a lot and have lived in quite a few countries, I must say that Croatia is one of the most beautiful countries out there.What you will find on the coast is lovely sea, perfect climate, nice people. Dalmatia and Istria have the obvious Italian influence, the architecture is beautiful and looks like any southern Italian village or southern France.There is a lot of old churches and monasteries as well as fortresses left from Roman times. A lot of history there.Food is amazing, mediterranean cousine and wine is very good. They are proud of their truffles which are expencive and not very rare.Dubrovnik is considered the pearl of South East Europe. It was very developed and rich republic back in the renessance times and was the biggest trading partner with Venice. A lot of partying and entertaining was happening back in those days.The north of Croatia is lovely too and has the Austro-Hungarian influences in architecture but in culutre as well. Dalamatians are known to be more easy going whereas the rest of the country has faster way of life.It is great to see that in the north there are lovely mountains so you might as well make the mistake that you are on the Alps in Switzerland. Very pictures nature.The islands are just a party time all over durring summer. You could check out Hvar if you are up for partying. I would rcemoend you not to miss Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb as well. All these cities/towns are very hip, cultural and have an amazing mixture of old traditions and history with all of the perks of modern living.In the last five years Croatia has been on the top 5 of most hip palces to go vacationing. Most of the famous celebs come durring the summer to relax and party: Naomi, Michael Douglas and his wife, Madonna, The Royal family of Denmark, as well as a lot of other Royal families (I often see their lyxurious yachts) these are just to name a few.I guess I love my Croatia, there are more than plenty of reasons to do so ! lolBest of luck to ya, I can assure you that you will have a great time!
Reply
