So there is no misunderstanding, this blog condemns homophobia, "fag bashing", and related activities the same as it condemns racism. They are unacceptable, regardless of the culture in which such acts take place. That being said, in my 13 plus years of experience in the Albanian community, I have found the people in it on the whole to be no more homophobic, and perhaps a bit less so, than people from any other European culture. Generally the attitude towards it seems to be "as long as they don't try to hit up on me, who cares what they do in the privacy of their own bedroom". However, I think it would be naive to say that all Albanians, or all of any group of folks that by and large feel that way about the subject, are in accord with that attitude. Unfortunate, yes, but a fact of life never the less.
In one of her latest columns, our "buddy" Julia goes after alleged homophobic incidents in Kosova. We will not try to deny that such things have happened, and we will certainly not defend them. However, we WILL say that perhaps Ms. Gorin should make sure her Serbian friends have their own houses in order first, before ripping into others on the same matter (or maybe Serbs being Serbs, they get a "pass" in her eyes on this....). (Note-this took place in 2001. Perhaps things have changed since then, but I'm not holding my breath.)
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