Hundreds of people gathered on Saturday at the eighth pride parade in Pristina in support of the rights of the LGBT community in Kosovo.

Blert Morina from the organization for the protection of the rights of this community, CEL, said that the motto of this year’s parade is “We have been and we will be”.

“Even this year, let’s show solidarity with all those people who continue to be in a disadvantageous position in our society, in the sense that the parade should be like a signal that Kosovo embraces diversity” he said, emphasizing that one of the main demands of to the members of the LGTBTI community is the opening of a shelter, writes VOA.

“Because they continue to live in unsafe environments precisely because there is no safe place to shelter. The other issue is the much-discussed one – the Civil Code, we believe that any delay in its passage to parliament is a violation of human rights,” he said.

In March 2022, the parliament of Kosovo failed to approve in principle the draft Civil Code, which paves the way for the legal regulation of marriages between persons of the same sex, amid strict objections and debates.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today during the parade that Kosovo is a democratic state that does not exclude anyone and guarantees equality for everyone.

In 2004, Kosovo adopted the anti-discrimination law, and representatives of civil society and the LGBT community say that the legal framework offers guarantees for their rights, but this community is still forced to live in the shadows, with the fear that the disclosure of sexual orientation could lead to exclusion from family and society.

The organization for human rights, Amnesty International, in this year’s report on Kosovo, emphasized that the LGBT community continues to face discrimination and a low level of social acceptance.