No Step Back – Prishtina Pride 2025

Right now, Prishtina Pride is taking place in the heart of the Kosovar capital. Under the powerful slogan “No Step Back,” this year’s Pride is not just a moment, it’s more than a celebration – it’s a movement. A call to action for all who believe in justice, dignity, and equal rights for LGBTI+ people in Kosovo. 

Now in its ninth year, Pride Week continues to symbolise both resistance and progress. This Saturday, the streets of Prishtina will once again echo with voices demanding a more equal and inclusive future, each voice a vital part of the movement. 

Among the signs of progress, Kosovo’s institutions have once again shown public support by hosting the official opening of Pride Week 2025. While largely symbolic, this gesture marks a growing institutional recognition of the LGBTI+ community, an important signal in a region where such support remains rare. 

Yet, the struggle is far from over. LGBTI+ individuals in Kosovo continue to face discrimination, hate speech, institutional neglect, and legal exclusion. The ongoing failure to include same-sex marriage in the Civil Code denies basic rights to queer couples. The lack of a dedicated shelter for LGBTI+ people facing violence and rejection leaves the most vulnerable without protection. 

At the same time, a rising tide of anti-LGBTI+ and anti-gender rhetoric, often masked as “traditional values”, threatens hard-won freedoms. This backlash targets not only queer people, but also feminists, human rights defenders, educators, and activists working for a more inclusive society. 

Prishtina Pride 2025 stands united in the face of these challenges. The message is clear: no step back. Not on rights. Not on safety. Not on existence. 

As LGBTI+ activist Blert Morina stated during the opening of Pride Week: 

“We no longer ask for online solidarity alone. We ask for action. We ask for real change. We ask that institutions be held accountable. It should not be us proving our existence constantly, but the state that proves it is fulfilling its duty.” 

This year’s Annual Conference, “The State and LGBTI+ Rights: Responsibilities in Challenging Times,” held on Friday, 13 June, and supported by Civil Rights Defenders, will address the role institutions must play in safeguarding rights. 

But beyond the conference, we march. Because the fight for equality does not end in meeting rooms, it lives in the streets. 

Join us this Saturday, 14 June at 17:00. Let this be more than a statement. Let it be a demand for legal change, institutional protection, dignity, freedom, and a future where no one is left behind. 

No Step Back.