foto: Dnevni avaz/Cropix
Even though all countries in our region have laws that ban discrimination, in reality, they don’t get implemented. A lack of political will and political populism give sanctuary to homophobia. Hatred in the Balkans is becoming a “traditional value”.
Written by: Miljan Kovač
In most cases, the law that bans discrimination is the only legal frame that protects LGBT persons in countries of the Western Balkans. Even though adopting this law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo represented a step forward towards creating an adequate ambience for sexual minority equality, these countries are still very far from being able to brag about improvement in this field.
Homophobia is still one of the main features of a society in transition: a transition that seems to never end. In order to actually make an improvement when it comes to protecting persons from discrimination and generally protecting minorities, having political will is necessary. This is exactly what is missing in a region where populist politics have the main word.
Even though none of the four mentioned countries is able to boast about improving in this field, certain differences do exist. One of the main differences is the support given by the electorate to politicians who openly stand for respecting the rights of LGBT persons. Are they ready to support legal action that would contribute to their equality, such as legalizing marriage partnerships of same-sex people? With the exception of Montenegro, the problem is that in all of these countries, executive authorities are controlled by politicians who are not ready to stand before their parliaments with such legal actions. At the same time, leading opposition groups are also not immune to homophobia.
BiH – a Society Divided at All of Its Seams – Unique in Its Homophobia
In 2017, the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, through the Agency for Sex and Gender Equality (ARS BiH) directed a draft for an action plan regarding the equality of LGBT persons. With an explanation that institutions of this entity “were not consulted”, the government of the Republic of Srpska entity gave a negative opinion of this draft.
In September 2018, the government of the Federation of BiH entity gave a positive opinion to this action plan, but with suggested corrections. However, this is where they stopped. We are waiting for this entity’s new government to form, a government which they still haven’t managed to form since 2018 elections. The draft of this action plan was created in accordance with recommendations from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe which regard the suppression of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
For now, the ban on discrimination against LGBT persons is regulated by the law on sexual equality and the law against discrimination of BiH. Entity and cantonal laws are still not “in sync” with these state laws.
The first BiH Pride Parade, which was hosted on September 8 in Sarajevo this year and under the slogan „Ima izać’” (Jargon for: Will Go Out! […of the closet] – Untranslatable), occurred with no incidents and this represents a small, yet significant step for this community’s fight for equality.
On the other hand, this parade came in handy for a litmus of political moods in BiH when it comes to the position of LGBT persons within the country.
The first ones “to cry wolf” were political party SDA – Stranka demokratske akcije (Party of Democratic Action). SDA went as far as directly calling out the parade organizers to give up on their event and to, as they stated, “stop unnecessarily forcing disorder on citizens of the capital city of BiH” because “our society nurtures fundamental values and tends to save the concept of family”.
This party’s councilor in the assembly of Canton Sarajevo, Samra Ćosović-Hajdarević, didn’t pick her words when she condemned the Pride Parade, publicly stating her desire to “isolate such people and keep them as far away as possible from our children and society”.
Unfortunately, one of the “champions” when it comes to hateful statements towards the LGBT community isn’t the above mentioned councilor, but the president of the Croatian Peasant Party (Hrvatska seljačka stranka) Mario Karamatić, who stated he was pleased that the Pride Parade took place in Sarajevo because “for years, Sarajevo has been leading faggot politics towards Bosnian Croats, therefore it is logical for it to occur in Sarajevo”.
A more moderate comment came from then leader of HDZ BiH party Dragan Čović, who told press – “I am an advocate of all differences and that is a personal matter. Of course, we all think differently and this should be respected, that is diversity as well.”
A day before Pride Parade, a public gathering was organized by its protesters in Sarajevo, but under the slogan “Day of Traditional Family”. Statements that were made at this gathering corresponded with the same statements SDA made, even though, officially, this gathering was not their doing.
On the other hand, in an ethnically divided BiH, Banja Luka politicians took advantage of this “luxury” and kept silent regarding this topic which is “difficult for them”, ignoring questions by press representatives.
When it comes to the governing party of SNSD, “the law of silence” regarding this topic still goes, so we didn’t receive any answers to our questions regarding the position of LGBT people yet again.
In the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP – Partija demokratskog progresa), they say that “they regard the question of LGBT rights as inseparable from the question of human rights and freedoms of every person a.k.a. citizen”.
Even though BiH laws do not allow same sex marriages, PDP’s opinion is that the existing laws are “good”.
“PDP’s stance is that the existing legal regulation in Republic of Srpska and BiH regulates family and ownership relationships in a sufficient way and that they key challenge is to secure actual implementation of rules of law in everyday practice. A misbalance in the implementation of laws is a general problem when it comes to rights in RS and BiH.” – answered Milko Grmuša, the general secretary of this party.
In Srpska demokratska stranka – SDS (Serbian Democratic Party), they are rooting for nurturing “traditional values”. The vice president of SDS, Ivanka Marković, states that this party propagates the preservation of traditional family as a basic cell of society in its program documents. On the other hand, SDS also propagates the protection of human rights and freedoms of all citizens of Republic of Srpska, no matter their orientation in way meant. She emphasized that they haven’t yet considered questions regarding same sex marriages.
Unlike the governing and mostly populistic parties, people in more left and citizen oriented parties share a different opinion.
“Our stance is quite clear. All citizens have equal rights, just as our constitution and laws state. I don’t see a reason why LGBT community members should be denied these rights because they are, among other things, also taxpayers, just like any other citizen of this country. This is our general stance on the matter, which we have shown by also attending the Pride Parade.” – emphasized by the vice president of SDP, Vojin Mijatović.
Mijatović, who lives in Banja Luka, said that if it comes to forming an initiative for organizing a Pride Parade in his city, he would be among those who would support this initiative not only by action, but by personal attendance as well.
The PR representative of Naša stranka (Our Party), Nikad Uk, emphasizes that this party supports equal rights for all citizens, therefore this includes LGBT community members.
“Our Party openly supports the exercise of LGBT rights that come from domestic law regulations, but also from international conventions which BiH has signed and made a commitment to follow.”
Serbia – Equality Guaranteed Only to the Prime Minister
When Ana Brnabić was elected at the top of Serbian government, as the first LGBT person at such a function in this region, many expected a tipping point when it comes to fighting homophobia in this country. Unfortunately, high expectations turned into disappointment.
However, Ana Brnabić says that “she isn’t an LGBT government president, but the president of the government of Serbia who is also an LGBT person”.
The Prime Minister gave her form of contribution towards changing the public’s opinion on the LGBT community when she participated in the Belgrade Pride Parade, but according to activists, her contribution was minimal and insufficient.
Her life partner gave birth to a baby last year. However, Ana Brnabić isn’t a parent formally because existing legislature in Serbia doesn’t allow for something like that. The question of same sex marriages is a taboo topic for official Serbia and LGBT activists are not hiding their disappointment regarding this matter.
The president of the Serbian government regrets that the LGBT community doesn’t recognize her contribution to the fight for respecting their rights.
“I had considered that me not hiding my orientation would bring to some sort of improvement in our society. I certainly do not think that this is enough, but it is an important start. I will keep working towards a future better status of this community, as well as all others in Serbia.”
The law that was passed in Serbia in 2009 bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
However, according to UNDP’s report for 2017, the LGBT community is one of the most discriminated groups of people in Serbia.
“The biggest social distance that citizens of Serbia have is towards LGBT persons and an equal distance exists towards LGBT persons within families.” – this report states.
The situation hasn’t changed over the past two years so even regarding this, Serbia is way behind Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Besides the government, which has been graded as insufficiently interested in this topic, opinions are strongly confronted in the biggest opposition group “Savez za Srbiju” (Alliance for Serbia). While one of the leading personalities of this coalition, leader of right wing “Dveri” Boško Obradović, publicly pushes opinions that go as far as banning the organizing of any kind of event where LGBT rights are promoted, members of Demokratska stranka – DS (Democratic Party) have condemned attacks on the LGBT community several times and have taken measure against discrimination.
For Obradović, Belgrade Pride is “a provocation of Serbia’s majority”.
“We believe that there is no reason to provoke Serbia’s majority by promoting something that is against public morals and something that breaks the law and promotes something that is against our traditional values.” – he said to an announcement for Belgrade press.
Unlike Savez za Srbiju, Liberalno-demokratska partija – LDP (Liberal-Democratic Party) publicly support equality that “implies full support for the LGBT community and their fight for equality”.
Through their work at the assembly, LDP has suggested several rule of law drafts with the purpose of gaining as much equality as possible and protecting LGBT citizens of Serbia.
“LDP’s stance has always been clear. LDP fully supports legalizing same sex marriages. It is necessary to provide same sex partners the full protection and privileges that marriage brings and enable them to be equal in the eyes of the law of Republic of Serbia.” – LDP answers to our portal’s questions.
From this party, they emphasize that experiences from countries that implemented same sex marriage legality show that nothing catastrophic happened, scenarios suggested by those opposed to marriage equality who were attempting to scare the public with such dramatic declarations of doom.
Belgrade’s first Pride Parade happened in 2010 with huge riots and street violence. Pride didn’t happen for three years, “out of security reasons”. Because of this, Belgrade’s first successful Pride Parade could be the one that happened in 2014.
This year’s Pride Parade, under the motto “I’m Not Giving up”, occurred on September the 15th. During the parade, a group of extreme oppositionists positioned themselves nearby, but thanks to the police and their successful intervention, much bigger problems had been evaded.
Belgrade is one of the five candidates for Europride 2022.
Kosovo – Political Support Without Concrete Results
Despite the stereotypes about a deeply patriarchal and intolerant society, where also according to NDI research, only 3% of surveyed candidates would accept their child being LGBT, the third Pride Parade in Priština happened without an incident and it also happens to be the third one to occur without an incident in a row.
This year’s Kosovo Pride, under the motto “For Whom Does Your Heart Beat” on September the 10th, managed to gather various activists from Belgrade, Podgorica and Skoplje, as well as the Major of Priština and several ambassadors in their country.
Kosovo began implementing the law against discrimination in 2004, being among the first countries in the region to do so.
However, there are many more unsolved problems, such as threats to members and activists of the LGBT community and their banishment from society.
The first Kosovo Pride happened in 2017. Among the first ones in line of the parade row stood Kosovo’s President Hašim Tači. Tači met with Pride organizers in his cabinet this year as well, offering them continuing support. Even though this certainly gave courage to the LGBT community, organizations who are fighting against discrimination are warning us that besides public and declarative support, politicians aren’t really doing enough to switch “from words to actions”.
Despite the fact that there is a law against discrimination, Priština’s Center for Freedom and Equality (Centar za slobodu i ravnopravnost) says that the law doesn’t actually get implemented in practice and the LGBT community faces discrimination every day.
Just like in other countries in this region, many Kosovo politicians actively evade to speak more openly about this topic. Kosovo is still far from legalizing same sex marriages and partnerships and it is uncertain as to when this country will begin the process of including this law.
The winner of recent elections and, most likely, the future Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti, leader of populist “Samoopredjeljanje”, claims that the situation will improve. However, he is also not ready to speak of concrete actions.
“I support human rights, UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Europeans Declaration of Human Rights. I support people acting towards their country and countries taking care of their people. Regarding all other questions, we have the law and the Constitution. Within this aspect, the Constitution is quite liberal, but it also depends on legislature and the jurisdictional bodies that interpret it.” – said Kurti to journalists.
According to activists’ opinions, the only advantage Kosovo has over other countries in the region is the fact that all public anti-discrimination events occur without incidents.
Montenegro – A Step Away from Legalizing Same Sex Marriage
Among all of the aforementioned countries, Montenegro could be the first one to make a significant step towards the actual improvement of LGBT rights.
The draft for the Law on Life Partnership Between Same Sex Persons did not get the needed amount of majority votes in Montenegro’s parliament on July the 31st this year. This lead to indignation among LGBT activists. However, the specificity of Montenegro is the fact that it is very certain that this law will soon be passed, unlike other countries in the region where this law is still far away from even being suggested.
Unlike Serbia, BiH or Kosovo, this law had been suggested by the country’s own government. Representatives from the biggest and current governing party DPS of President Milo Đukanović votes in favor of passing this law. Unfortunately, the only thing missing was support from three representatives at the assembly who represent national minorities, but are usually part of the governing coalition.
Because of their boycott of parliament, which has been going on for a while, opposition representatives did not attend the session. It is certain though that most of the opposition would not have supported such a law. The biggest political group among them, the Democratic Front, confirmed such a stance on multiple occasions.
However, the draft to pass this law could be won by majority in parliament because representatives of oppositionists SDP and Citizen Movement URA would vote for it, as well as other independent opposition representatives.
SDP even invited the government to place the draft to pass this law on the agenda once again so that their representatives could attend and support it.
Citizen Movement URA states that their party supports safeguarding and improving all fundamental human rights and freedoms, which the freedom of individuals to their sexual orientation being an equal part of it.
“Regarding this matter, we respect and support any law that protects human rights and the freedoms of individuals and stops any form of discrimination in the country of Montenegro. We are based on this fundamental idea and we are giving all our efforts for such an idea to become a reality in Montenegrin society.”
Some independent representatives also confirmed that they would have supported the draft for passing this law had they been present at the assembly meeting.
Another rarity of Montenegrin society is that a trans person has recently been baptized in an Orthodox church in Podgorica. This news echoed through the region. To make something strange even stranger, the baptism was performed under the auspices of Orthodox metropolitan Montenegrin shoreline, whose metropolitan Amfilohije Radović isn’t known for tolerant overtones regarding matters that are not under “traditional values”. Special meaning is added to this gesture with the fact that the church accepted to baptize this trans person under the name Vuk (Wolf), a name he chose for himself, beating the country at its own game because the country had not accepted Vuk’s application for a name and sex change in official documents. LGBT community members in Montenegro approved this action, considering this as a big contribution for the fight against discrimination.
The law against discrimination was passed in Montenegro in 2010.
The first Montenegro Pride Parade happened in Budva in 2012.
Announced Pride Parade 2015 in Nikšić was banned because of “security reasons”, so this year, the seventh in a row Podgorica Pride Parade happened under the slogan “Not Over My Back”.
Besides obvious improvement, unlike countries in its region, Montenegro still has a high level of homophobia. This is witnessed through attacks and threats towards LGBT community members. The recently baptized Vuk is also a victim of violence and activists in Montenegro are positive that homophobia is being aided by individual politicians who have been publicly spreading hate speech. They also see this as one of the reasons why Montenegro has degraded itself on the scale of dolerance.
ILGA – Europe, as a European umbrella LGBT organization, stated within its yearly report A Rainbow Map of Europe, where Montenegro takes 22nd place and with a result of 36%, which is 2% less than last year and up to 11% worse than 2013, when this country had a better result than Finland. According to this report, Bosnia and Herzegovina is only 0.5% behind Montenegro, while Serbia and Kosovo share a score of 28% on the Rainbow Map of Europe when it comes to implementing LGBT rights.
While on the one hand, hatred speaks out, hidden behind so-called “traditional values”, Balkan Pride Parades send completely different messages. It is unfortunate that hatred towards everything “different” is the biggest “traditional value” here.
Translated by: Lidija Drakulić
Author: Impuls