Croatian gays’ mass coming out

In the face of ongoing prejudice, more than 1,000 members of Croatia’s gay community have used a national media campaign to call for tolerance.About 1,200 Croatian gay men and lesbians put their names to the advertisement which appeared in three newspapers and several magazines this week, BBC News reported.I don’t want to hide any more, the advertisements read. Little divides us and a lot unites us. Reconsider your prejudice. The signatories did not put their surnames on the letter, but their move was still groundbreaking in a largely conservative Catholic country, local activists said.Even though it’s just a symbolic coming out, without full names, this is a good reflection that gays in Croatia are gathering courage to fully expose themselves and that society is growing more tolerant, Dorino Manzin, head of a leading Croatian gay group, told BBC News.Homosexuals face widespread discrimination in Croatia, and many have been the target of hate crimes.