Twelfth Montenegro Pride in Podgorica: “Where are our rights?”

The twelfth Montenegro Pride was held in Podgorica on Saturday, under this year's slogan “Where are our rights?” (“Đe su naša prava?”).

Marchers carried banners reading “Where are our rights”, “Justice for all”, “You won't decide for me”… The organisers said their goal was to draw attention to the rights of the LGBT+ community and its struggle for equality and self-determination, with the key demand being the adoption of a law on the legal recognition of gender identity based on self-determination.

Iskra Đurišić of the association Spektra said that “today, as we mark the twelfth Pride, we are fighting for our rights, but also for those who come after us”.

“Our present is hard, often unbearable, and our future uncertain. Our struggle today hinges on the adoption of a law on the legal recognition of gender identity based on self-determination. This law is not just a norm — it is the human right of every person to be who they are, to live their life in accordance with their identity. Self-determination is the essence of freedom. We live in a world that often rejects us, that wants to shut us into invisible frames, but we will not accept silence. This law is our path to a legal system that recognises us and lets us enjoy all the human and civil rights that belong to us,” Đurišić said.

Staša Baštrica, director of Queer Montenegro, said that “the state does not protect all of its citizens”, adding that the LGBT+ community will not stay quiet “before a system that marginalises us” and “will not accept anything less than an equal place in society”.

She also noted that, by current estimates, tens of thousands of people in Montenegro are LGBT+.

“By the estimates, around ten percent of the population are LGBTIQ+ people. In Montenegro, that means tens of thousands of people. We are your friends, colleagues, family members. We are here, we exist, we create, we pay taxes, we build this country — and that is why we ask nothing more than respect for equal rights, and why we will not accept anything less than an equal place in society. Our community is part of this country, and this country must recognise and protect us. We will not agree to compromises, we will not agree to silence. Our presence is necessary for this country's progress. We are not asking for mercy — we are asking for justice and equality,” Baštrica said.

Montenegro Pride coordinator Danijel Kalezić pointed out that the LGBT+ community “is still discriminated against by the majority society and by decision-makers”.

“Imagine being a person forced to be sterilised — made by the state to have parts of your body removed just to get the personal documents you are entitled to. That is done on the basis of an opinion of the Interior Ministry, not the criminal code — because under the criminal code, forced sterilisation is a crime,” Kalezić said.

The march set off from Independence Square and passed peacefully, without incident.

Source: Glas Amerike. English adaptation: gay-serbia.com.