Montenegro: LGBTIQ+ workers still face prejudice and dismissal, and few report it, investigation finds

Montenegro’s laws prohibit discrimination, yet LGBTIQ+ people still face prejudice, hostile workplaces and dismissal because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to an investigation by the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG), published by the daily Vijesti.

One of those interviewed is Luka (not his real name), a waiter in Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital, who has worked in hospitality since he was sixteen and has marched openly at Pride since he came of age. When he returned to work after three days off, his employer told him there was no longer a place for him: “The guests say all sorts of things and they complain. This way it’s better for you and for us.” In a previous job, colleagues told him every day that gay people were sick and needed curing; managers did nothing, and he eventually quit.

Now, he says, he has to plan “300 steps ahead” before applying for any job, checking what kind of team awaits him. He is considering leaving Montenegro after he finishes his studies: “That is a consequence of homophobia nobody thinks about, and so many young people are leaving, partly because of it.”

Few complaints, no sanctions

Over the past five years, 12 people have turned to the LGBTIQ association Queer Montenegro for free legal help over workplace discrimination. The organisation warns that this is far below the real scale, because people stay silent for fear of losing their jobs, being outed or facing colleagues, and because they do not trust the institutions. As far as it knows, none of those cases ended with an employer being sanctioned.

Official records show almost nothing. Montenegro’s Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms (the ombudsman) logged 105 discrimination cases in employment in 2024, none of them recorded on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. In 2025, only one case was registered in a category covering several grounds, and no violation was found.

A June 2026 study by Jovan Ulićević on the socio-economic inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people in Montenegro’s labour market found that only 24.1 per cent of the organisations analysed have specific policies protecting LGBTIQ+ staff. An earlier 2024 survey by the LGBTIQ Social Centre and LGBT Forum Progres found that 87.7 per cent of respondents had experienced discrimination at work because of their sexual orientation, and 39.4 per cent said they had lost a job over their real or perceived LGBTI identity.

“You have to explain your body, your name or your past”

Vuk Adžić, a young trans man from Montenegro, says discrimination rarely looks like an open refusal: “Much more often it hides behind questions about whether you will ‘fit in with the team’, how other employees or clients will react.” Identity documents that do not match a person’s gender are a particular barrier: “A person can be completely capable of doing the job, but before they can even show what they know, they have to explain their body, their name or their past.”

ILGA-Europe’s May 2026 ranking placed Montenegro 18th of 49 European countries, above the European average, but the country has not adopted a new LGBTIQ+ action plan and reform of legal gender recognition for trans people has stalled. Queer Montenegro says employers in both the private and public sectors need dedicated protection policies, and must apply them: the labour law is largely aligned with EU standards, but low social acceptance spills over into the workplace. CIN-CG sent questions to the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, which had not replied by the time of publication.

Source: vijesti.me (CIN-CG). English adaptation: gay-serbia.com.