Organizing Committee of BH pride parade announced that the request to illuminate the Sarajevo City Hall in rainbow colors, as a sign of support and solidarity with LGBTIQ people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was rejected.
In the press release, they state that, after submitting a request to Public Enterprise Sarajevo for the lighting of the City Hall building, they were instructed by the same legal entity that the decision on lighting is made exclusively by the City Council, and implemented by PE Sarajevo.
“We sent an official letter, learned from previous experiences, to the City Administration and the PE Sarajevo. After we did not receive a response from the City Council, on June 16, 2023, we sent an urgent response to the originally submitted letter.”
“After BIRN’s article on this topic published today, we also received a reply in the text of an e-mail at 6:43 p.m., without an official act, adequate explanation and elaboration of the reasons, or a reference to the relevant regulations. In the said e-mail, in one sentence, it is indicated only that our request cannot be granted,” it is stated in the statement.
From the Organizing Committee of BH pride parade, they ask whether the City Administration selectively chooses in what way and to whom it will give the space, that is, the wall of the City Hall building, or are essentially only LGBTIQA rights a space of divergence and discrimination?
“This is another reason why it is important to go out to the parade and clearly say that this kind of discrimination is enough,” it is stated in the statement.