Far-right nationalist and religious groups took to the streets of Belgrade, Serbia to protest a planned Gay Pride parade scheduled for next weekend, Reuters reports, with chants supporting Russia and the invade of Ukraine mixed in with nationalist slogans.
During his sermon as part of a service held during the protest, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, said the EuroPride event threatened traditional family values. “They want to desecrate the sanctity of marriage and the family and impose an unnatural union as a substitute for marriage,” he told the crowd.
While homosexuality is not against the law in Serbia, the government had barred some Gay Pride parades before permitting this month’s. LGBTQ advocates have been working to legalize gay marriage with little success.