Montenegro Gay Pride Cancelled, Claiming Lack of State Support
Homophobic attackers struck in Podgorica just hours before organisers of Montenegro’s first Gay Pride had to cancel the event claiming lack of state support. Podgorica Pride – scheduled for May 31 – has been indefinitely postponed due to the apparent lack of state commitment or support for the LGBT population in Montenegro, organisers said on Tuesday.
Hours earlier, members of the organising committee had been attacked after leaving a concert of around 600 members of the LGBT community, friends, supporters, many of whom came with their families and children. The concert by Croatian band Lollobrigida was organised by Juventas under the banner ‘Love is the Attitude’, as part of their third year of activities to support to mark International Day Against Homophobia. Violence had erupted earlier at the concert, when tear gas was thrown.
Jelena Colakovic, Program Director with Juventas told W!LD RooSTeR that, for the first time in Montenegro, many LGBT people were gathered in one place and jointly sent a clear message to hooligans who tried to disrupt a peaceful event, showing that such actions will not interfere with their fight for basic human rights. “The Montenegrin LGBT community showed its unity and together with their friends and supporters stayed until the end,’ she said. “They didn’t allow the concert to be stopped. The vast majority remained and continued with the music of Lollobrigida, singing You Can’t Hurt Us.” Juventas filed criminal charges on May 17.
Over recent months, organisers of what should have been Montenegro’s first Gay Pride Parade have called for a senior cabinet minister to be appointed to the planning committee and address participants at the parade.
Last month, the Chief of Police met with LGBT Forum Progress, Montenegro’s first gay and lesbian NGO and organiser of the proposed parade and said that law enforcement authorities would make every effort to ensure the safety of participants and maintain public order during the event. The Montenegrin Government also agreed to assign two officials as members of Podgorica Pride’s steering committee to help with logistics for the event.
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| >Igor Lukšić has expressed support |
Prime Minister Igor Lukšić has already made public statements about his support for Podgorica Pride and LGBT rights in general. But organisers want to see genuine actions. Before they will consider rescheduling, LGBT Forum Progress have called on Lukšić to reiterate his public backing for the parade.
They also want Ferhat Dinosa, Minister for Minority and Human Rights to pledge support. This could be a stumbling block.
Lukšić and his Deputy Prime Minister Dusko Markovic had previously said that Montenegro must show it is ready to accept different lifestyles, but Dinosa has been less supportive. He has been infamously quoted as saying that if there are homosexuals in the country, “then it is not good for Montenegro”.
The planned parade had split opinion in Montenegro, with its population of around 600,000. Although the PM reportedly sees the march as a test of the country’s commitment to human rights as it seeks EU membership, church leaders, pro-Serbian opposition parties and most of the public have been adamantly against any parade and had threatened to disrupt it.
Recent surveys show that more than 70 per cent of Montenegrins still believe homosexuality is an sickness, while 80 per cent believe it should be kept private behind closed doors.
Zdravko Cimbaljevic, Executive Director of LGBT Forum Progress has accused authorities of a ‘lack of seriousness and professionalism’. “They would state their support, but when concrete actions are needed, we have a problem,” Cimbaljevic has told press.
A government statement on Tuesday urged organisers to reconsider their decision, reiterating its “unconditional support” for the event and claiming “there is no reason for the cancellation”.
While Montenegro was one of the first former Yugoslav republics to decriminalise homosexuality in 1977, most people there still view homosexuality as a sickness and there is little to show that a change in attitude is on the cards.
As in many other Balkan states, social and political leaders in Montenegro either keep quiet on the subject or express negative views, while the media rarely covers the gay and lesbian community in any positive way. The absence of visible LGBT people in the media, arts or culture allows conservatives and church leaders to claim that homosexuality hardly exists in Montenegro or, even more bizarrely, has been imported from the West.
At a recent conference organised by Juventas, Montenegro – Brighter Spot on an LGBT Map, Zdravko Cimbaljevic said: “The rights of the LGBT population in Montenegro are not being respected because of the existing legal and social norms, as well as tradition and general beliefs of society. Individual rights, freedom and possibility to choose, including sexual and reproductive rights are threatened and negated. The State and its bodies of law and protection of human rights have not developed their obligations to LGBT people and civil society.”
He went on: “Protection and rights of LGBT persons and cooperation with LGBT groups are ignored and neglected by Montenegrin government. We also think that in Montenegro is effective institutional homophobia that always comes to the fore when it comes time to get the words into action. Changing attitudes and behaviour towards LGBT people is essential.”
In March, the government Montenegro supported a statement by the United Nations Human Rights Council on ending violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity. By supporting this statement, Montenegro has committed to making efforts to prevent attacks on LGBT people, laying the path to equal rights and improving general their well-being in line with other EU states.
It has been reported that Belarus, Moldavia, Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and the Vatican are among states that did not support this statement.
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