June 5, 2023 – “Karlovac is different and open”, “Karlovac is tolerant and inclusive”. These were some of the mottos of the first Karlovac Pride. It took place on Saturday, and it was a peaceful cheerful event without incidents. It gathered dozens of citizens, and members of sexual minorities received the message that society is changing and that they have the support of citizens and institutions.
Organizer Marko Capan said that Karlovac will never be the same after this, writes Index. He criticized the attitude that no one “touches” members of sexual minorities, so “there is no need” for such gatherings because “they can do whatever they want in their four walls”. He called such a view fictitious tolerance. “We’re stuck at that level of social consciousness,” he asserted.
1st Karlovac pride
Everyone should have the right to publicly express their sexual orientation or gender identity without being insulted or ridiculed, he said. He added that no one has the right to decide who can parade in the street. “Cramming people into four walls is intolerance, although here it is ‘sold’ as tolerance”. He further stated that this is characteristic of non-democratic regimes.
He warned about hate speech on social networks and disparagements that the law does not recognize as hate speech. Moreover, he called on the media to cooperate in eradicating such phenomena.
He thanked the institutions in Karlovac County that for the past three months have put up posters promoting tolerance towards LGBTIQ people. These are 55 institutions from the fields of secondary education, internal affairs, social welfare and healthcare.
