Civilised discussions about “uncivilized” behavior

Belgrade Pride on Couchsurfing

 People here are known for their great openness and hospitality. Yet there are still a lot of people who do not want to extend this attitude to all groups of society – such as the homosexuals.

I am a member of couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.com), a place where many Serbians show the rest of the world what a hospitable nation they are. When I logged onto couchsurfing this morning, I saw that two girls had written that they are going to come from abroad in order to support Belgrade Pride and that they are looking for a  place to stay.

One guy commented the following “I am footbal(P.F.C.) supporter,so i will be on other side.” This guy says on his profile, that he loves Herman Hesse and European Movies. -Me too. And that the types of people he enjoys are “any kind of people”. Great – Me too. On his profile, people say that he has been a “lovely host, kind, with a great sense of humour and an amazing family”. -He sounds like the sort of guy, I would get on with. In fact, most people probably would.

From his post, the discussion went into different directions: people attacking him for his “violent” statement: people attacking the girls, since they should not post “potentially controversial topics such as Gay Pride” on the forum, to basically the reasons behind why there should be freedom of speech.

This made me think, yes, I condemned the gentleman who confronted two foreign girls, future guests of this wonderful country, with hooliganism. Yes, maybe the girls should have known better. But maybe it was good that this type of confrontation happened online – with people who are united in their love for travelling and different cultures, divided (only) by the topic of sexuality. 

We have to openly clash. We have to resolve misunderstandings. Only when these things are continuously oppressed, the long term effects are irreparable.

I truly hope that Belgrade Pride will be a “peaceful” clash. Both sides have the right to protest – as long as they do not harm the other side. Lets hope that the police takes their responsibility seriously in order to not harm Serbia’s image abroad, to not harm innocent people physically and to prove that the country has moved on since 2001.