Post by radovic on Sept 8, 2008 17:14:28 GMT -5
Tensions Rising over Bosnian Gay Festival
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08 September 2008 Sarajevo _ Posters condemning homosexuals have appeared in Sarajevo ahead of this month's first-ever gay festival in Bosnia.
Two Muslim imams have been quoted as criticising the timing of the five-day festival, which opens September 24 and will occur during the holy month of Ramadan.
Islam prohibits homosexuality, and Sarajevo is at least 85 percent Muslim.
Neither the head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia, Mustafa Ceric, nor his institution has officially reacted to the festival, which will include films and art exhibitions. But two local imams in Bosnia have condemned it.
“We will not grab them by the neck on the street, but we have to say: This is immoral ... a promotion of ideas that are in violation with religion,” Seid Smajkic, an imam from the southern city of Mostar, was quoted as saying in Friday's edition of the local daily, Dnevni Avaz.
Several posters have appeared in the streets of Sarajevo, saying “Death to Gays”. Police quickly removed them.
On Friday, the Bosnia mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it is concerned that politicians have not reminded the public that local laws forbid discrimination regarding sexual orientation.
“The mission strongly condemns attempts to incite violence against any group within Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the OSCE said in a statement, adding that the anti-gay posters “are intended to do just that.”
Local human rights organisations and intellectuals are supporting the festival, but some have questioned its timing regarding Ramadan.
Slobodanka Dakic, an activist of the Bosnian Q Association, a festival organiser that promotes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual rights, said there was no plan to antagonise anyone.
Bosnia is supposed to be a secular society in which events are not planned according to religious calendars, she said at a news conference in Mostar.
Showing one of the “Death to Gays” posters to reporters, she also asked: “Is this Ramadan? This is why the festival is important.”
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08 September 2008 Sarajevo _ Posters condemning homosexuals have appeared in Sarajevo ahead of this month's first-ever gay festival in Bosnia.
Two Muslim imams have been quoted as criticising the timing of the five-day festival, which opens September 24 and will occur during the holy month of Ramadan.
Islam prohibits homosexuality, and Sarajevo is at least 85 percent Muslim.
Neither the head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia, Mustafa Ceric, nor his institution has officially reacted to the festival, which will include films and art exhibitions. But two local imams in Bosnia have condemned it.
“We will not grab them by the neck on the street, but we have to say: This is immoral ... a promotion of ideas that are in violation with religion,” Seid Smajkic, an imam from the southern city of Mostar, was quoted as saying in Friday's edition of the local daily, Dnevni Avaz.
Several posters have appeared in the streets of Sarajevo, saying “Death to Gays”. Police quickly removed them.
On Friday, the Bosnia mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it is concerned that politicians have not reminded the public that local laws forbid discrimination regarding sexual orientation.
“The mission strongly condemns attempts to incite violence against any group within Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the OSCE said in a statement, adding that the anti-gay posters “are intended to do just that.”
Local human rights organisations and intellectuals are supporting the festival, but some have questioned its timing regarding Ramadan.
Slobodanka Dakic, an activist of the Bosnian Q Association, a festival organiser that promotes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual rights, said there was no plan to antagonise anyone.
Bosnia is supposed to be a secular society in which events are not planned according to religious calendars, she said at a news conference in Mostar.
Showing one of the “Death to Gays” posters to reporters, she also asked: “Is this Ramadan? This is why the festival is important.”