The 2013 Pride Day observance on June 27 is another opportunity to ask ourselves why the LGBT population in Serbia is faced with continuous discrimination and the only group that can’t exercise one of the basic human rights – the right to assembly.

The 2013 Pride Parade-related events will test to what extent we, as a society, are ready to respect human rights and ensure all people can express their own sexual orientation and gender identity, without fear from being discriminated against, humiliated, violated, or excluded from social and public life, said the Commissioner in her public statement for the Pride Day observance.

At the same time, the Commissioner stressed, all public authorities should work on raising public awareness of vulnerable groups’ human rights, since the right to be different is a civilizational achievement and indicator of the level of democracy in a society.

The date of June 27 commemorates the Stonewall riots when members of the LGBT community stood up to a police raid on June 27-28, 1969 in New York (US).