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Football Authorities Have Change of Heart on Anti-Gay Graffiti in Belgrade
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BELGRADE, August 12, 2009 – The football ‘fans’ whose signatures appeared on gay-hate graffiti in the city over the past two weeks have now been condemned by the two clubs concerned, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan.
The clubs had declined to distance themselves from the graffiti. But following the release on Monday of an ‘open letter’ to FIFA the international governing body for football, pleading for action by the international governing body for football, the clubs and the Serbia Football Association have now condemned the ‘fans’.
“Red Star condemns every act of violence and hatred in any part of planet, and Belgrade too,” Marko Nikolovski of Red Star said in a press statement.
And his opposite number at Partizan was equally emphatic. “Sport is open for everybody and there's no place for hatred and discrimination,” Darko Grubor told the media.
The change of heart appears to have been as a result of the publication of the matter on Monday by UK Gay News and the American gay sports Website OutSports which led to many other sites picking up on the story.
“We have a reaction from our football clubs,” Predrag Azdejkovic, the editor-in-chief of the GayEcho Website, told UK Gay News by e-mail this afternoon. “They have condemned the graffiti after they learned about the letter to FIFA.
“The Serbian media has seen the news on UK Gay News web site, and today we have a front page in one daily newspaper and the story is being reported in other media.”
It was two weeks ago that the graffiti started appearing on the buildings of the Serbian capital.
Much of the graffiti called for the killing of gays. One instance read “Smrt pederima South Gate” - or Death to faggots South Gate”. South Gate is the name used by a supporters group at Red Star Belgrade.
Another example of the hate graffiti in Belgrade read, in English, “Serbia for Serbs, Out with Faggots”.
SEE ALSO
Outraged Gay Community in Belgrade Demand FIFA Action Over Hate Graffiti. Football fans’ graffiti calls for murder of gays. The failure of the Football Association of Serbia and two clubs in Belgrade to distance themselves from homophobic messages and calls to murder gay persons which appear in graffiti across the city, bearing the ‘signature’ of fans from the Partizan and Red Star Belgrade has so outraged gays that they have written to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world governing body for football, demanding action. (UK Gay News, August 10, 2009)
Anti-discrimination Legislation Is Essential for the Democratic Future of Serbia – Bishop. Calls have been made today for the Serbian government to put back on its agenda the proposed anti-discrimination legislation. The draft legislation is said to have been withdrawn before the vote in the Serbian Parliament following pressure from the Serbian Orthodox Church. (UK Gay News, March 9, 2009)
Transsexual Murdered in Belgrade. A transsexual person was found dead in her flat in Belgrade at the weekend, the Serbian LGBT group Queeria told UK Gay News last night. (UK Gay News, January 20, 2009)
Two Anti Gay Hate Groups in Serbia Zapped by Facebook. Two Serbian “gay hate groups” have been removed by Facebook. Two days ago, UK Gay News revealed that the two Facebook groups, “Queeria, Pederi Marš iz Srbije” and “СТОП ПЕДЕРИМА - КВИРИЈИ!” were posting death threats on Serbian gay men and women – and calling for other criminal activity. (UK Gay News, December 27, 2008)
Please Protect Us, Serbian Gays Plead: Death Threats, Attacks Faced as Facebook Fails to Remove Two Hate Groups. Please protect us. That is the plea from gays and lesbian in Serbia to their government, the police and the wider world this holiday season. (UK Gay News, December 26, 2008)
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Posted: 12 Aug 2009 at 16:00 (UK time) |
