Have you ever heard of a threat to religious feelings?
Plans to hold Bosnia's first gay festival during the Islamic holy
month of Ramadan were denounced by the Muslim community on Thursday as
an affront to religious feelings.
As in most of the Balkans, there is little tolerance for homosexuality in Bosnia, where for many it remains a taboo.
"Such an event dangerously threatens our religious feelings. It is not appropriate to hold it during the Ramadan," said Ezher Beganovic, a journalist with the Islamic magazine Saff.
Beganovic has spearheaded a debate about next month's four-day festival. He said in an article this week that the "festival of homosexuality", which is regarded as a sin and disease in Islam, could cloud the holy month of Ramadan and promt angry reactions from believers.
Not that sounds like a threat.
Organisers said the festival was planned a year ago without aiming to provoke. Read on.
