February 25, 2020
Watch: Effigies of Same Sex Couple Burned at Croatian Festival
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
The burning in effigy of a same-sex couple and their child in the Croatian town Imotski prompted condemnation from governmental officials and LGBTQ equality advocates alike, reported Balkan Insight.
The burning was part of the town's Carnival celebration. In the Croatian region Dalmatia, where Imotski is located, Carnival often features the incineration of effigies representing people or topics that have generated controversy, noted Balkan Insight.
Reuters noted that the burning followed a recent court ruling that found same-sex couples could be foster parents.
Civil unions are legal in Croatia, though the heavily Catholic country does not permit same-sex couples to participate in marriage. Reuters noted that the country's constitution was amended, with popular support, to bestow marriage as a special right to that country's heterosexual couples. Non-heterosexual families are similarly barred from adopting.
Governmental officials responded with horror and anger at the effigy's burning, reports said. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic called the display "totally unacceptable," reports said, while the country's ombudsman, Lora Vidovic, sent out a tweet that called the effigy's torching "devastating and sad."
"It teaches children that it is okay to hate," tweeted Vidovic. "That's unacceptable."
Reports noted that one of the figures burned at the Carnival resembled a minister of parliament, Nenad Stazic, who supported the right of same-sex families to become foster parents.
The effigy's torching was only the latest example of anti-LGBTQ sentiment being touted in the country's Carnival celebrations, noted news media reports. Two years ago, in the region of Kastela - which comprises seven towns, also located in Dalmatia - an LGBTQ-themed children's book titled "My Rainbow Family" was also incinerated in effigy.
Daniel Martinovic, of the Rainbow Family Association, spoke out against the fiery display of hatred, saying, "What kind of message is being sent to our children, children who nowadays in Croatia grow up with lesbian mothers or gay fathers?"
You can watch the burning in this video, posted on YouTube by Bo�ko ?osić. Note: the burning takes place some 1:41 minutes into the video.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
