A representative of the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro attended a panel entitled “Free and Equal in Rights and Justice” which was held on November 20, 2020 at the PR Center in Podgorica.
The panel was organized within the project “Equality of LGBTIQ persons before the law – Improving the rights of LGBTIQ persons in court proceedings”, implemented by CeMI, and funded by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights of Montenegro.
The director of CeMI, Teodora Gilić, first addressed the audience and began her presentation on the position of LGBT people in Montenegro. She stated that CeMI has been actively involved in the protection of LGBT people in Montenegro since 2010 through the organization.
“CeMI actively and openly supports the work of organizations such as Queer Montenegro, Juventas, Spektra and other organizations that deal with the protection of the rights of LGBT people and the improvement of their position in Montenegro,” said Gilić. This project aims to contribute to the equality of LGBT people before the law and the improvement of their rights in court proceedings, Gilić pointed out.
The panel also screened a short promotional film “A step closer to rights and justice”, which showed the key challenges faced by LGBTIQ people in Montenegro.
Then, the researcher of public policies of CeMI, Milica Zrnović, said that they wanted to emphasize the importance of improving the protection of minority rights and promoting the principles of a democratic society.
“Emphasizing these aspects, we want the film to influence the encouragement of other members of the LGBTIQ community to be more active and self-initiative in society. On the other hand, we want to draw special attention to the public, which often has stereotypes and prejudices when it comes to the LGBTIQ community”, said Zrnović.
Director General of the Directorate for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Blanka Radošević Marović, said that in 2013 the first strategy for improving the quality of life of LGBT people in Montenegro for the period 2013-2018 was adopted and through expert evaluation upon completion of the strategy, it was estimated that over 80 percent of the activities were implemented. “After all, that can be seen, because for a period, not longer than ten years, steps of seven miles have been made in Montenegro when it comes to the rights of LGBT people and especially their visibility in Montenegrin society,” said Radošević Marović.
At the end of the panel, the main actor of the short film “A Step Closer to Rights and Justice”, Nikola Ilić, a transgender man and a representative of the Spektra Association, addressed the audience and said that members of the LGBTIQ community, because of their differences, face many more challenges and difficulties in life. He also said that the LGBTIQ community “is not a threat to this society, it is not wrong and it is not sick.” He concluded that LGBTIQ people in Montenegro do not have the conditions for a normal life, which is a necessary minimum and that we must recognize the differences of our society in order for everyone in Montenegro to feel at home.
