1. Experts of the Humanitarian Law Center will be monitoring all media in Serbia (and foremost daily and weekly newspapers) to collect clippings wherein homosexuality (both male an female) is mentioned, with special attention given to homophobic articles by individual journalists as well as quotes of public personalities speaking on the subject, which occurrences are widely present in the public;

The Humanitarian Law Center experts will use this database for a legal and sociological analysis of the extent of the violation of the rights of the same-sex-oriented people by, first and foremost, the media, and through them by the whole of Serbian society.

The ARKADIJA Gay Lobby an the European Youth Association of Serbia will recur to this data base to prepare reports and to inform other groups who monitor human rights of people with same-sex orientation. (According to our contacts so far, many world groups are very interested in the state of gay and lesbian human rights in Serbia. Also, through reports and information we will be passing on to human rights groups in FRY, homophobia, preponderant in this society, will be brought to the attention of those groups and the public as a whole.)

Furthermore, all interested experts who research the issue of sexual minorities in Serbia, namely lawyers, social scientists, psychologists etc. will have access to the database an reports. (So far, several graduations and final exam papers have been presented at the Belgrade University Philosophy College and those who did them were severely incapacitated by a lack of access to information that the Campaign Against Homophobia intends to collect.)

2. ARKADIJA and European Youth Association of Serbia will react to all incidents of homophobia, observed through media monitoring, by issuing public announcements, preparing protest letters an analytical texts to be sent not only to media in which homophobic comments occur, but to general public as the need may be.

Further lobbying shall be carried out in TV and radio programs, press releases and interviews in which appeals for cessation of homophobia will be made so as to sensitize the public opinion regarding the rights of sexual minorities in Serbia.

This part of the project requires technical support (i.e. a computer, a modem, a telefax), seeing that it is to be carried out by groups who have non of the above; also needed are fees for translators or reports an the monthly honorarium to the project secretary who is to coordinate activities between Humanitarian Law Center, ARKADIJA and European Youth Association of Serbia; lobby the media, arrange meetings an perform all necessary clerical work such as typing in of texts, proof-reading and copy editing of reports and bulletins etc.

3. The third part of the project comprises legal actions against the most pronounced forms of homophobia. The partners in the Campaign Against Homophobia will sue those media and individuals who propagate homophobia publicly.

This shall serve as a warning to any advocate of homophobic discrimination, because legal actions under the existing positive law and the Constitution of Serbia provisions (however deficient they are) will prove that the rights of gays and lesbians are indeed protected, if only under a vague definition of "individual circumstances" and that homophobia is thus illegal. Whereas the Humanitarian Law Center will take upon them to file suits through barristers of theirs, this part of the project does not require any financial support.

4. The Campaign Against Homophobia will produce cards, posters, pamphlets, leaflets, badges and stickers with anti-homophobic message. Also, it will prepare a monthly bulletin and monthly updated web-site with information on the achievements of the Campaign and on the position of same-sex-oriented minority in Serbia. The Humanitarian Law Center reports, analyses, proclamations, protests, etc. will also be included in the bulletin.

Since this part of the Project will be carried out by ARKADIJA an European Youth Association of Serbia, it requires full financial and other support in assets for the two activities this comprises, namely graphic design and printing costs.

Project Goal and Objectives

The Campaign Against Homophobia main goal is: CESSATION OF HOMOPHOBIA AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST SAME-SEX-ORIENTED MINORITY IN ALL THEIR FACETS.

This Campaign Against Homophobia will help to mainstream (to a certain extent) the problems of gay and lesbian population in Serbia by informing the public (individuals, groups, and experts) about them. Through human rights groups and in direct with the media, we will advocate the following:

• fight against all forms of homophobia;
• cessation of harassment of the gay and lesbian population by the police. We will demand legal and police protection in cases of assault an robbery , as well as destruction of police files regarding same-sex-oriented people who have committed no crime;
• cessation of discrimination in hiring gays and lesbians;
• equal rights for gays an lesbians in all state institutions;
• introductions to schools of sexual education program that will be based on latest scientific research, so that same-sex orientation will be treated as one of several aspects of normal human sexuality;
• cessation of patriarchal, that is heterosexual male dominance in society, i.e. unconditional equality for of women and men, dismantling of the stereotypical gender roles in life and education, cessation of the sanctioned sexual discrimination and gender role assignment in the family, at work etc.

For more information, contact: dusan@gay-serbia.com