Majda Puača

In Serbia members of the gay and lesbian community who speak out publicly are targeted by the media and run the risk of physical attack. Majda Puača is a member of Queer Belgrade. There has been no Gay Pride in Belgrade since 2001 because of the risk of violence. Since then Queer Belgrade has organised a Queer Festival which is not publicised in the media to avoid the risk of violence. The purpose is to create a safe space in which gay and lesbian people can collect safely.

Further Information

In September 2008 a Belgrade tabloid published the details of one of the events on its front page referring to this “clandestine gay festival. As a result when the participants were moving from one venue to another they were attacked by members of a neo-fascist group. Majda was one of the people attacked and suffered a broken wrist. She is taking a case against the leader of the gang with the support of Labris a lesbian human rights organisation. As Majda says “the first goal is that these people must learn that they cannot carry out these attacks and go unpunished”.