We fought for sexual freedom in a country without human rights

The Pride Parade in Sarajevo, according to the organizers and numerous media, was more than magnificent, befitting European cities, sending us two messages: one that Sarajevo is indeed a place of tolerance, even after all the city has endured in the last three decades - from the hot steel of Karadžić and Mladić from the surrounding hills, the longest siege of a city in modern war history, to the post-war brutal robbery by local tycoons; and the second message is that there is hope - not only for Sarajevo, but for the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Zagreb journalist Gordan Duhaček, while praising Sarajevo after the parade – titling his article 'First Pride in BiH: Sarajevo's Lesson to Zagreb, Belgrade, and Split' – nevertheless notes that it would be a mistake to declare Sarajevo a city that is truly tolerant of its LGBT fellow citizens due to one successful pride march. He warns that it cannot stop at just the parade and encourages continuous work and further affirmation of the LGBT community in the country, so that it receives equal treatment as other members of society.

However, the whole situation with Bosnia and Herzegovina is much more complex than can be depicted by the specific issue of the LGBT community: the Bosnian-Herzegovinian society is still in conflict after the wars of the 1990s (this time the war is waged by other means but with the same goal), citizens are under constant pressure from ethno-national elites who are trying to divide them into pure ethnic enclaves, the country is still under attack from nationalists from neighboring Serbia and Croatia, just like in the 1990s, the president of the currently leading party of Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, publicly calls for the breakup of the state, the president of the Croatian Democratic Union, Dragan Čović, seeks the division of the country into three ethnic units, which is contrary to European principles, while Bosniak elites, fragmented into several insignificant and mutually feuding parties, are preoccupied with their leaders' own interests. Civic political elites also fail to sit down at the same table and attempt to take power from the nationalists. All of this has led to BiH becoming one of the poorest countries in Europe, from which entire families are emigrating, which has been particularly evident in the last few years. Therefore, if a strong fight is not initiated to liberate Bosnia and Herzegovina and its citizens from such shackles, the specific fight for the LGBT population is doomed to failure - it is insignificant to treat the consequences if the cause is not addressed.

Nevertheless, the Pride Parade can be a recipe for the direction in which Bosnian-Herzegovinian society should go.

If a non-governmental organization like the 'Sarajevo Open Centre', supported by two well-meaning ambassadors in BiH - US Ambassador Eric Nelson and British Ambassador Matt Field - with the support (verbal, but still support) of several domestic political parties, mainly those from the left spectrum (SDP, DF, GS, and NS), managed to alert domestic and international public opinion and organize the first Bosnian-Herzegovinian LGBT community parade without a single incident, attended by over 3,000 participants, then it is proof that with the same effort, it would be possible to gather at least ten times more citizens for peaceful protests against politicians who are leading the country to ruin and its citizens to new suffering.

There is no doubt that if the international community showed the same concern for Bosnia and Herzegovina and its citizens as it did for the LGBT community, the accumulated problems in the country would disappear or be significantly reduced. Or, if the citizens and politicians who supported the Pride Parade showed equal sensitivity towards the overall situation in society, things in the country would begin to improve.

Otherwise, it is extremely hypocritical to encourage anyone, even people of homosexual orientation, to build their status in an environment that does not guarantee basic human rights and in a country that has a very, very uncertain future.