Rainbow Walkaway in Zagreb, Croatia, October 11, 2021. Photo from ZA-Pravo private archive, used with permission. This article by Anja Zulić was originally published on Balkan Diskurs, a project of the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC). An edited version has been republished by Global Voices under a content-sharing agreement. The Croatian LGBTQ+ association ZA-Pravo, which was founded two years ago at the University of Zagreb Law Faculty, provides a positive example for neighboring countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), where no such organizations have been registered. This association fights against discrimination and works to promote the visibility of queer people in the university environment. For students in ZA-Pravo, conservatism within the faculty is the main reason for their activism. In fact, their exclusion from the academic community could be said to have motivated the founding of the association. In a statement for Balkan Diskurs, ZA-Pravo explained: “As expected, some people opposed the idea. We have faced various obstacles regarding the registration and starting of the association, but we can proudly say that we haven’t given up. When there are loud voices from one side and when those voices actively lead to the endangerment of someone’s rights, acts of intolerance, or inappropriate comments – it is important to oppose them.” Emina Bošnjak, executive director of the Sarajevo Open Center (SOC), pointed out that there is no student LGBTQ+ organization in any of the faculties across BiH. However, she'd received information on attempts to form such an organization at the public university in Tuzla. Emina Bošnjak, Executive Director of the Sarajevo Open Center (SOC). Photo: private archive, used with permission. “If I had to predict where it might happen first, I would guess that it would be in one of the philosophy faculties. Maybe in Tuzla, probably in Sarajevo,” Bošnjak added. When it comes to the situation at certain faculties in BiH and the position of LGBTQ+ students, Bošnjak highlights information she has received from people who contact the SOC, come to the events that they organize, or participate in their work. She said: „Mislim da ne bih napravila veliku grešku da za one fakultete na kojima vlada mizoginija i na kojima su zabilježeni slučajevi seksualnog uznemiravanja i nasilja nad studenticama kažem da su daleko od toga da budu prijemčivi za pitanja različitosti u kontekstu seksualne orijentacije i rodnog identiteta. Nisu to još uvijek mjesta koja će ohrabriti LGBT+ osobe da budu out tijekom studiranja, niti će pružiti efikasnu zaštitu u slučajevima nasilja i diskriminacije i jasno osuditi homo/bi/transfobiju.“ “I don’t think I would be making a big mistake to say that those faculties where misogyny reigns and where cases of sexual harassment and violence against female students have been reported are far from receptive to issues of diversity in the context of sexual orientation and gender identity. These are still not places that will encourage LGBT + people to come out during their studies, nor will they provide effective protection in cases of violence and discrimination and clearly condemn homo / bi / transphobia.” ZA-Pravo was founded on November 16, 2020, on the International Day of Tolerance, with the encouragement of Antonija Petričušić, a professor at the Department of Sociology at the Zagreb Faculty of Law. The Association was established in line with the concept of gay–straight alliances at colleges in the United States. Antonija Petričušić, professor at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Law in Zagreb. Photo: private archive, used with permission. “What thrilled me was that gay and straight students came forward praising the idea and saying that this should have existed a long time ago. They didn’t know who was behind the idea, which means that they really believed in the idea. After just one month, we organized the founding assembly,” Petričušić recalls. Today, the association has about 100 members, most of which are students. Professor Petričušić was the chair of the board of directors for the first year, after which she retired and left the leadership to the students. All decisions and activities are a matter of consensus. Throughout history, student activism has brought about great social changes. Today, according to ZA-Pravo, LGBTQ+ activism is very important due to the massive rise in recent years of the far-right, which aims to destroy LGBTQ+ rights by spreading disinformation and moral panic. ZA-Pravo are optimistic about future generations, because they believe that young people are increasingly inclined towards activism.