Motley Network Reacts to the Homophobic Incident in Sarajevo

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Last Thursday, April 19, during the blood donation action organized by the Institute of Transfusion Medicine of BiH Federation at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, another incident resulting from the Institute's policy to discriminate against gay persons who want to donate their blood happened when one of the Institute's employees physically attacked one of the students.

Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo (Photo flickr.com)

Also, a woman working as librarian at the Faculty of Philosophy started insulting a girl who said that she was lesbian and threatening to wait for her outside the Faculty's premises. The Motley Network of BiH (network of activists of human rights NGOs and individuals that work in the area of LGBTTIQ activism) in its reaction notes that the Faculty’s employee clearly used hate speech when she said to the girl “I would kill you on the spot if you were my kid”.

Noting that the discriminatory policies of the Institute of Transfusion Medicine were a well known fact and that all past attempts to alleviate and change it never exited the given institutional framework, the Motley Network adds that, for the first time, the students tied to leave the boundaries of that framework and "demanded support from the dean", who told them that nothing can be done about internal practices and policies of the Institute, and from their colleagues.

"We demand from the above mentioned public institutions to publicly denounce such primitive and unprofessional actions of their own employees who, in their workplace, promoted their own outdated standards and prejudices and threated the institutions they represent, but also the whole sectors of healthcare and education. If the said institutions share the views of their staff and fail to take action to remedy this situation, we call on the competent authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to sanction them for threatening LGBTIQ persons and all citizens in general, promoting hatred, intolerance, discrimination and undermine public security and trust", the Motley Network said.

The Network also invited all organisations to join their effort and to react to the hate-speech and institutional discrimination with adequate action. The organisations and individuals involved in the Network also called on the other faculties and healthcare institutions to publicly denounced such incidents and restore the trust in the institutions that have the sole purpose to educate the youth and take care of their physical and psychological well-being, with respect for human rights of all citizens.

In an earlier reaction last Friday, April 20, the Okvir Association reminded the institutions of higher education of their obligation to provide safety and security for their students, especially “when they raise their voice to defend their rights”. The Okvir Association condemned the incident and the discriminatory policies implemented by public health institutions and expressed its expectations that the instigators of the incident and promoters of discrimination and hate-speech will be "properly sanctioned for their vandalism and barbarity".