Tenth Gay Pride Parade Held in Zagreb

Zagreb pride parade | Photo by FoNet

The 10th annual gay pride parade dubbed “The future is ours as well” was held on Saturday, only a week after riots at a similar event in Split.

Some 4,000 participants walked through the city centre – carrying rainbow flags, banners and balloons – to Zrinjevac park where speeches were held and two bands staged a concert.

Members of the LGBT community were joined by politicians and civil society activists, including Vesna Pusic of the Croatian People's Party, HNS, who was named Friend of Homosexuals of the Decade. Also attending were HNS president Radimir Cacic, Mirela Holy of the Social Democratic Party, Ministry of the Interior spokesman Krunoslav Borovec, Zagreb lawyer Cedo Prodanovic, former interior minister Sime Lucin and writers Predrag Matvejevic and Edo Popovic.

"The situation in Zagreb was not any better 10 years ago, but things are moving forward, and I would not be here if I didn't believe it," said Pusic.

Some members of the public gathered in the central Trg Bana Josipa Jelacica Square applauded the marchers. However, 17 people were arrested during the parade for shouting insults and for carrying banners with inappropriate messages, according to Jelena Bikic, the Zagreb police department spokesperson.