I LOOKED FOR A BOYFRIEND ON VALENTINE'S DAY IN THE CENTER OF BELGRADE: Do you think something happened to me? (PHOTO)
- This was the most difficult task for me as a journalist. I was afraid, to be honest. I dressed nicely, put a wide smile on my face and went to the city center with the board "I AM LOOKING FOR A BOYFRIEND".
In former Yugoslavia around 500 men went to jail for being homosexuals
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Some of the people looked at me ferociously, some looked at me strangely, some approached me, girls laughed, one guy even came to me. And then they all lost interest. "Just another social experiment..."
Alas, we would like if this really happened, that one of our colleagues started an article like this.
But this did not happen.
Telegraf news agency has published numerous stories like this over the past years, but this is the one we thought about, but we did not have the courage to do.
The reason is simple - too dangerous.
We were afraid that our colleague, no matter how brave he was or wanted to do the story - would get hurt.
We were afraid that someone would punch him, that someone would spit him, that someone would pour something on him.
Because today, let us face it, to show on a public place that you are gay is the most dangerous thing in Serbia.
There are other depraved minorities, of course, and their problems are huge, but only a gay person risks getting beaten or humiliated. Or both.
We asked the gay activist Predrag Azdejković whether our fear was justified.
- You did well! He could have gone, but the question is how would he return, or would he return. Honestly, there would not be some extreme physical violence, but the people would look at him and make fun of him - he said and added that members of LGBT community in Serbia learned how to "behave" on the street, or not to display their feelings openly.
In the end, he stressed that if a girl wore the same board, people would find this cute and funny, because this picture is acknowledged in our society.
Boban Stojanović from "Queer" LGBT center said for Telegaf news agency that he would expect some physical violence.
- I believe some people would find it funny, because no one looks for a boyfriend in this manner. They would say something offensive, and they might assault him - he explained and added that the climate towards gay people is changing slowly.
Serbia, let us send our colleague next year to actually do this to look for a boyfriend in the street.
And let us not fear whether he will or will not come back to the agency.
We ask of you to give your comment about this subject and tell what do you think, would something happen or not if a case like this really happened.
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