Skopje Pride, June 21, 2025. Photo: Meta.mk, used with permission.
This article first appeared in Meta.mk on June 22, 2025. An edited version is being republished on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement with the Metamorphosis Foundation.
Skopje's Pride parade, organized by the National Network Against Homophobia and Transphobia, took place in the capital of North Macedonia on June 21, under the slogan “We stand. We persist. Together!”
As previously announced, instead of the celebration of diversity format used in previous Pride marches, the sixth annual iteration of Skopje Pride took the form of a protest march. This year, there was no stage and no party. Instead, the organizers declared resistance against the negation of the LGBTQ+ community's identity and existence:
Во Скопје во тек е протестот за човекови права „Скопје прајд“, под мотото „постоиме и ќе опстоиме“.@SkopjePride pic.twitter.com/tADP1X5hQw
— META.mk (@meta_agency) June 21, 2025
Participants of Skopje Pride chanting ‘We will persist!’
Prior to the protest, the participants declared their positions through the Skopje Pride Manifesto, which opposes “misogyny and hetero patriarchal demographic hysteria promoted by the highest echelons of government” – including bureaucratic “mishaps” like the two-year pause put on the legislative changes required for recognition of gender – and expresses support for transgender people “who are targeted by orchestrated attack by the anti-gender associations which sow moral panic, fear and hate through anti-science and manipulated information.”
In response to the government of North Macedonia's refusal to support recent UN resolutions calling on Israel to end its occupation of Gaza, the manifesto also expresses support for the people of Palestine.
Skopje Pride 2025. Photo by Meta.mk, used with permission.
The march began at 7:00 p.m. from the Woman Fighter Park in the city center, with speeches warning about the growing movement against democracy, human rights and gender equality. It ended with the chanting of the slogan “Death to fascism; freedom to us, the people.” One of the speakers said:
Потсетуваме дека и во добри и во лоши времиња, заедништвото е најсилната стратегија притив насилнчките, екстремно десни, фашистички коалиции. Заедништвото не е флоскула, туку споделување ресурси, грижа простор и време. Уште повеќе тоа е активна борба за враќање на трудот, знаењето, телото и времето назад од канџите на властодршците што сѐ ни земаа а ништо не ни вратија. Не сакаме асимилациска инклузија во нормите на расистичкиот патријахален, колонолистички и екоциден капитализам, претставен како единствениот можен свет, каде грижата ни се претвори во луксуз, здравјето во привилегија, а слободата во маркетинг-стратегија. Инсистираме на нивно отфрлање.
We remind you that in both good times and bad, togetherness is the strongest strategy against bullying, far-right, fascist coalitions. Togetherness is not a platitude, it’s sharing resources, care, space and time. Moreover, it is an active struggle to reclaim labor, knowledge, body and time from the clutches of the power-holders – those who took everything from us, and gave us nothing in return. We don’t want assimilating inclusion to mold us into the norms of a patriarchal, colonial and ecocidal capitalism. It is presented as the only possible world, where care is turned into luxury, health is turned into privilege, and freedom is turned into a marketing strategy. We insist on rejecting all of those.
Skopje Pride, June 21, 2025. Photo: Meta.mk, used with permission.
After the speeches, several hundred participants marched through the capital carrying a large flag with the colors of the rainbow. The route took the protesters through the streets of Dimitrie Čupovski, Sv. Kliment Ohridski, and Mitropolit Todosij Gologanov, after which they stopped in front of the Ministry of Education and Science.
While there, the mother of a transgender child, in addressing the relevant government minister, demanded that institutions not segregate and discriminate against children with disabilities, and children of different sexual orientations or gender identities:
Не може да ги тргнете ЛГБТИ децата во ресурсни центри како што ги отстранувате децата со попреченост, па ги препуштивте на силеџиството од учениците и наставниците. Директорот на училиштето во кое учи моето трансродово дете јавно се радуваше и ликуваше на трансфобичните политики на Трамп, па ќерка ми го искритикува за изјавите. Наместо да сноси одговорност, вашите политики министерке му овозможија да покажува надмоќ.
You cannot move aside the LGBTI kids into resource centers like you are trying to remove the kids with disabilities, and tolerate the bullying by other students and the teachers. The director of the high school my transgender kid attended publicly gloated after the inauguration of Trump [and the administration's] transphobic policies, and my daughter criticized his statements. Instead of demanding responsibility from him [the school director], your policies, minister, enabled him to assert dominance.
The march then continued along Frenklin Ruzvelt and Ilinden Boulevards before stopping once again – this time, before the Palace of Governance – the seat of the government.
Skopje Pride 2025 in front of the seat of the Government of Republic of Macedonia. Photo by Vančo Džambaski, CC BY-NC.
While walking the streets of Skopje, participants chanted slogans that included “Death to Fascism!” and “Justice for Kočani”, referring to the impunity surrounding the Kočani nightclub fire tragedy.
На протестот „Скопје прајд“, меѓу многите пароли учесниците извикуваат „правда за Кочани!“.@SkopjePride pic.twitter.com/2dpLDm5lNw
— META.mk (@meta_agency) June 21, 2025
Participants of the Skopje Pride protest chanting ‘Justice for Kočani’ among other slogans.
The slogans in support of Palestine included “No pride in genocide; none of us are free until all of us are free,” “Silence = death,” and “Anti-capitalist parade against Christo-fascism.” A dozen or so participants also waved Palestinian flags.
Pro Palestine signs and flags at Skopje Pride, June 21, 2025. Photo: Meta.mk, used with permission.
The presence of leftist activists was visible at the protest, their voices ringing out in the socialist international tradition, in various languages, including Macedonian. One chant, “The people united will not be defeated”, is a translation of the Chilean revolutionary song “¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!”
Sign “Death to fascism, freedom to the people!” at Skopje Pride, 21.06.2025. Photo: Meta.mk, used with permission.
By and large, the signs displayed at the protest were diverse. Some portrayed messages like “Love is too beautiful to be hidden,” “Love is immortal, not immoral,” and “Let love live.”
“Will the women survive here?” sign at the Skopje Pride 2025 protest. Photo: Meta.mk, used with permission.
Others, like “Will women survive here?”, “Death to fascism, freedom the the people”, and “We are the new sun of freedom” – a nod to the lyrics of the Macedonian national anthem “Today over Macedonia is born/the new sun of freedom” – addressed issues like threat of violence and the worsening social climate.
Sign “LGBTQ+ аgainst Lithium” at Skopje Pride, June 21, 2025. Photo: Meta.mk, used with permission.
One sign, “LGBTQ+ against lithium,” even expressed solidarity with the people of Serbia as it highlighted the ongoing environmental protests against the Serbian government-approved lithium mining project.
Skopje Pride was part of a series of queer culture-related events taking place during Pride Month, including the Pride Weekend Skopje 2025 festival and a panel discussion aimed at uncovering gender-based disinformation narratives through queer literature.
