Albanian, Bosnian Pride Marches Urge Solidarity Amid Rise of Extremism

The 2025 Pride March in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pride marches will be held in Tirana, Albania on May 23 and in Sarajevo, Bosnia on June 20, with organisers sending out messages of solidarity and resilience in the struggle against discrimination and hatred. Activist Livia Zotrija from Albania’s LGBT Alliance told BIRN that Tirana Pride’s slogan for 2026, “Together for the Family”, aims to remind people that no one should have to face fear, prejudice and insecurity alone.

Zotrija said that the slogan is important at a time when “many people are feeling a wave of hatred, exclusion and disinformation”. She said that the “family” of the slogan refers to care, love, solidarity and support. “It is the community that holds you up, listens to you, and helps you not give up,” she added. Another Albanian rights activist, Zhaklin Lekatari, told BIRN that the slogan is also a response to attempts to portray the LGBTQ+ community as being “against the family”. “For years, here has been a perception that the existence of LGBTIQ+ people ‘threatens’ the family or society, when in fact what truly threatens the family is violence, hatred, exclusion and the lack of empathy,” Lekatari said. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo Pride march organisers are sending out a similar message of togetherness. “Today, more than ever, we need solidarity, unity and partnership, because fascist, militaristic and occupying movements have long been closing ranks and oppressing children, women, refugees, LGBTIQ+ people, religious and ethnic minorities, the powerless, and all those who fight for human rights, social and economic justice,” said Jelena Kravljaca, one of the members of the organising committee. Kravljaca said the march is not based on “imported values”, as some critics claim, but reflects the multi-ethnic and multicultural nature of the country itself. “The Bosnia and Herzegovina Pride March celebrates what Bosnia and Herzegovina already is – a space where everyone belongs, cities and a country where diversity is not a threat but an everyday reality and a prerequisite for a better and more beautiful life for all people,” she said. Sarajevo’s Pride Week will run from June 13 to 21 and include concerts, workshops, film screenings, drag performances and guided walks through the city’s queer history.

Key points

• Zotrija said that the slogan is important at a time when “many people are feeling a wave of hatred, exclusion and disinformation”.
• She said that the “family” of the slogan refers to care, love, solidarity and support.
• “It is the community that holds you up, listens to you, and helps you not give up,” she added.
• Another Albanian rights activist, Zhaklin Lekatari, told BIRN that the slogan is also a response to attempts to portray the LGBTQ+ community as being “against the family”.
• “For years, here has been a perception that the existence of LGBTIQ+ people ‘threatens’ the family or society, when in fact what truly threatens the family is violence, hatred, exclusion and the la…