The LGBTIQ+ community in North Macedonia is gearing up for the country's first every Pride parade, which is due to take place on June 29th in the capital city of Skopje.
According to Global Voices, plans for the parade were shared during a press conference on May 20, held by the National Network Against Homophobia and Transphobia. An activist with the group, Irena Cvetkovic, said the parade represented a watershed moment for the local LGBTIQ+ community.
"A very difficult period has passed for the LGBTIQ+ community and we consider that now is the moment for a Pride Parade, because we passed the worst," she said.
"North Macedonia is the last country in the region that organises a Pride Parade."
Cvetkovic is likely referring to the 11-year rule of the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, which held power in North Macedonia from 2006 - 2017.
The country's current Prime Minister, Zoran Zaev, is considered more progressive, attending a five-year celebration for the the Center for Support of the LGBT community shortly after being elected in 2017.
Zaev also backed a new anti-discrimination law that includes sexual orientation and gender identity in order to comply with European standards, which was brought into effect in March of this year.
While homosexuality was decriminalised in North Macedonia in 1996, the country still fails to formally acknowledge same-sex unions.
