Montenegro Pride is the national LGBTIQ pride march in the city of Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, which first took place for the first time in 2013. Since then Montenegro Pride has become an annual event. It is self-identified as an LGBTIQ pride rally.
Montenegro Pride is organized by a volunteer and grassroots Organizing Committee that is formed anew every year. The Organizing Committee of the Montenegro Pride is a non-hierarchical group and it is logistically supported by the non-governmental organization Queer Montenegro. Pride receives support and funding from various donors and sponsors.
After several months of negotiations with the Police Administration, the first Montenegro Pride under the message "Proudly, Montenegro" was held on October 20, 2013 in the capital Podgorica. [1] [2] Montenegro Pride was protected by 2,000 police officers to ensure the safety of the participants from the attempts made by extremist groups, fascists, hooligans and sports fans to break through the police cordons to physically deal with the participants in the pride. In the clash between the police and hooligans, 60 people were injured, 20 of them police officers. Numerous public inventories (containers, traffic signs, benches, garbage cans, etc.) and few business premises in the city centre were destroyed in the riots. [3] [4]
The first Montenegro Pride was announced in July 2013, followed by numerous criticisms from the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovic, who in an open letter to the organizers of the Montenegro Pride in which he mentioned the pride parade as "immoral and shameful" and declaring it as "sin instead of virtue ". As his notion was characterized as hate speech that could incite conflict and violence, the organizing committee of the Montenegro Pride worked intensively with police in the following months to prevent incidents similar to those at the Sea Side Pride held on July 24 in Budva. In the next two months following the Pride in Budva, about 250 reports of hate crimes were reported.
As a reaction to the first Montenegro Pride, the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral organized the Petkovdan Liturgy "For the Montenegrin honour, dignity, the sanctuary of marriage and the birth of children", which was attended by a few thousand people. "God's children can only be those who guard themselves against every sin, be it visible or invisible, especially the one that has polluted this city these days." [5]
On Sunday, November 1, the second pride parade was held in the capital city Podgorica under the message "Traditionally proud" with the logo of a Montenegrin woman with a moustache. About 200 people took part in the parade, including the Mayor of the capital of Podgorica, Slavoljub Stijepović, and representatives of the international community: the ambassadors of the Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy and Germany. The second pride in Podgorica was supported by the presence of gay activists from the Balkans, as well as the Croatian singer Marina Perazić, who held a mini-concert. [6] [7]
The parade passed peacefully and without any incidents. The gathering was secured by about two thousand policemen, who, in addition to St. Peter Cetinjski Street and Blažo Jovanović Bridge, also blocked the surrounding streets and boulevards to ensure the safety of the participants. Police arrested sixteen people and seized Molotov cocktails, smoke bombs and batons on suspicion of planning an attack on Pride participants. [8] [9]
In anticipation of the second Montenegro Pride in Podgorica, graffiti stating "Everyone on the streets 2. 11" appeared in response to the pride parade held on the same day. Members of the Varvari fan group claimed the responsibility for the graffiti, stating that "Behind the graffiti are not only Varvari, but all citizens of Podgorica who are against the promotion of homosexuality ..." [10]
As in previous years, the Pride Parade was not supported by the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, whose leader, Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović, again had messages filled with hate speech regarding the Parade. [11]
After the Montenegrin Police Administration banned the Pride Parade in Niksic, which was supposed to be a response to a series of homophobic graffiti that appeared on the building of the Faculty of Philosophy in Niksic, [12] [13] the third Montenegro Pride was scheduled in Podgorica under the slogan "Montenegro Pride for every city" which refers to the decision of the police administration. This year's pride intended to decentralize LGBTIQ activism in Montenegro and increase the visibility in the rest of the country. [14] [15]
The political discourse of 2015 in Montenegro was marked by mass protests against the ruling regime of Milo Đukanović, which escalated weekly. This political situation presented several challenges for the organizers of the pride parade. The lack of media attention and interest of political actors in the middle of the political crisis forced the Organizing Committee to cancel the Third Montenegro Pride, which was scheduled for October 18. In the weeks that followed, the political situation in Montenegro worsened and the protests reached a critical point on October 24, just a week after the originally scheduled day of the third Montenegro Pride. [16] [17] [18]
As the protests were marked by attempts by protesters and opposition parties to enter the parliament building, vandalism and police brutality, it seemed that the Third Montenegro Pride would not happen at all, but after the events of October 24, the situation began to calm down and conditions for a pride were once more achieved. The new date of the third Montenegro Pride under the slogan "Montenegro Pride for every city" was scheduled for December 13, 2015. The pride event passed peacefully and without incidents, with the LGBTI activists, the Minister of Human and Minority Rights, the Mayor of Podgorica, representatives of the civil sector and the international community taking part. The pride moved along Sveti Petar Cetinjski Boulevard, Stanko Dragojevića Street, Bokeška Street, Njegoševa Street and Marka Miljanova Street and ended on the Republic Square in front of the Municipality building. Montenegro Pride 2015 is considered a turning point in LGBTIQ activism in Montenegro. In order to decentralize activism and increase visibility in the rest of the country. [18] [19] [20] [21]
The fourth Montenegrin Pride parade organized by Montenegro Pride was held on December 17, 2016. in Podgorica under the message "Family Values". About 200 people from the LGBTIQ community and supporters participated in the parade. The event was ensured by strict police security but it went without any incidents.
The slogan of the fourth Pride Parade was chosen by the Pride Organizing Committee after the incident of three men beating a minor in Podgorica under the false assumption that he is a member of the LGBTIQ community, since he and his family support equal rights and regularly attend pride and related events in Montenegro. Physical attack was accompanied by death threats. In 2016. attacks on the LGBTIQ individuals were on the increase. The frequency of these attacks is a direct consequence of the negative comments and condemnations of the LGBTI community by the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral and its leaders. [22] [23]
In addition to community members, organizers, and a large number of family members, the event was also attended by the Montenegrin Minister of Human and Minority Rights, Meto Zenka, and the Minister of Culture, Jank Ljumović. [24] The presence of Minister Zenka, who is a member of the Albanian national minority in Montenegro, was a sign of progress in its attitudes towards the LGBTI community, given that his predecessor from the same minority party, Ferhat Dinosa, refused to attend the pride in 2012. [25]
The fifth Montenegro Pride Pride Parade was held on September 23 in Podgorica under the name "With chivalry against violence ". The pride event, which ended without any incidents, was attended by hundreds of LGBTIQ activists from Montenegro and the region. In addition to people from the community, the event was attended by a large number of representatives of state institutions, municipal services, international institutions, diplomats, and individuals from the non-governmental sector who are committed to reducing discrimination against vulnerable groups and combating all forms of violence. [26] This year's route was different from the previous ones, moving through Njegoševa Street, Novaka Miloševa Street and Slobode Street.
Behind the Pride message lies the long-standing struggle of the LGBTIQ community against violence, but also the solidarity with other vulnerable and marginalized groups in Montenegrin society. "Not only violence against us, but violence against everyone. This Pride is for all groups exposed to violence. We who are engaged in activism in Montenegro have seen a lot in previous years. We have seen injured heads, fractured skulls, situations and scenes that are unimaginable. This is something we live with daily. Although we are becoming more visible with each passing day, the violence is also on the increase, "said Danijel Kalezic, a member of the Organizing Committee of Montenegro Pride. [27]
This year's Pride Parade was attended by a much smaller number of members of the Police Directorate who were in charge of securing the event. No incidents were reported. Unlike previous years, the organizers of this year's Pride did not personally invite representatives of institutions and politicians. Everyone should take part in Pride because of sincere support, and not for collecting political points or media attention. [28]
Chivalry and heroism are more than principles for Montenegrin society. Throughout the turbulent history of wars, the principles of chivalry and heroism have strived and transcended from mere principles into a lifestyle and a tradition of true values nurtured by generations of Montenegrins. "Heroism is when I defend myself from another, chivalry is when I defend another from myself," said Marko Miljanov. Message of the Pride but also its logo – medal, order for chivalry, heroism and above all humanity were directly influenced by these principles. [29] [30]
The Sixth Montenegro Pride parade was held on November 17 in Podgorica with the participation of over 200 LGBTIQ activists, friends of the community, representatives of the civil sector, political parties and the Government of Montenegro. The parade was also attended by the director of the Police Administration, Veselin Veljović, and his associates. [31] The Pride was held under the slogan "Break the chains' ' and with minimal police escort and no recorded incidents. Behind this year's slogan and the message of the Pride, as stated by the member of the Organizing Committee of the Montenegro Pride, Marija Jovanović, is the effort to make the sixth Montenegro Pride a safe place to which all citizens of Montenegro are invited. "All that is needed is for you to come, to show bravely and decisively that together we can put an end to the chains made up of patriarchy, sexism, racism, xenophobia, transphobia, homophobia and all other forms of oppression," Jovanovic said. [32] The organizers of the Montenegro Pride made clear demands, the most important of which referred to the civil partnership legislation being drafted by the Parliament in the coming weeks. [33]
The seventh Montenegro Pride parade was held on September 21, 2019 in Podgorica under the slogan "Not over our backs". The slogan came after MPs from the minority parties that make up the ruling coalition voted against the Law on Same-Sex Partnerships, which was proposed by the government, voting was cast with the absence of opposition party MPs, who include LGBTIQ rights in their political programs. [34] [35] [36] [37] Montenegro Pride 2019 was the most numerous and the route was significantly longer. One of the main demands of the Montenegro Pride was that politicians, especially members of parliament, stop calculating human rights and use them for inter-party games. [38] [37]
"I have the right that representatives of the people do not use my identity as an insult to each other. I have the right to live my life authentically, and to live freely with the community to which I belong without being manipulated with." Jovan Džoli Ulićević [38]
The Pride occurred without any incidents, and it was followed by a concert of the Croatian band "Nipplepeople", which was organized in cooperation with the Podgorica Art Festival. [38]
The 8th Montenegro pride parade was held on 20 December under the slogan ‘’I am a symbol of resistance’’. Due to the covid-19 pandemic and public health concerns parade was transformed into a car pride parade and was put into the context of wedding car parades, also known as svatovi which are part of the Balkans wedding traditions. [39] In this way, 8th Montenegro pride was partially a celebration of the newly adopted same-sex partnership law that passed in Montenegrin parliament in July earlier that year. [40] [41] The convoy of cars started from the city centre, from the "Savo Pejanović" School, through "Marka Miljanova", "Vučedolska", "Stanko Dragojevića" streets, across the "Millennium" Bridge, through a part of the city across Morača to the City District. [39]
Pride week lockdown edition was held online and activities included: online gatherings, film evenings, workshops, speed dating as well as the first online Montenegro Pride parties and exhibitions. [42] As a sign of support for the LGBTIQ community, the capital Podgorica for the first time illuminated the Millennium Bridge with rainbow colours, as well as the buildings of the President of Montenegro and the Ministry of the Interior. By illuminating recognizable buildings and institutions, the mayor of capital city Podgorica Ivan Vuković, the President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović and the Ministry of Interior gave symbolic but significant support to the Montenegro pride, which this year was organized and held in difficult conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [43]
Slogan and political context: Months prior to the 8th Montenegro pride Montenegros society was faced with the rise of hate speech against LGBTIQ persons. During parliament discussions about same-sex partnership law, same-sex attraction ware compared to paraphilic sexual tendencies such as zoophilia and paedophilia. [44] [45] Slogan ‘’I am a symbol of resistance’’ was created as an answer to the rising clerofascist political ideologies that were emerging from Montenegro's political and social structures. After the newly elected prime minister of Montenegro, Zdravko Krivokapić stated that terrorist-bomber Nikola Kavaja is a ‘’Symbol of resistance’’ [46] organising committee of Montenegro pride decided to reclaim these words and put them in the antifascistic context. Organizing committee through the narrative of 8th Montenegro pride explained that despite daily discrimination, violence, insults and non-acceptance LGBTIQ persons just with their existence are a symbol of resistance to Homophobia, transphobia, patriarchy, exploitation, theocracy and autocracy, marginalization, violence, to the war narrative, dogma, regression, prejudice, stereotypes to the vampirization of fascism, hate, social inequality and degradation of human rights. [47] [42]
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Montenegro face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Montenegro, but households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
Amfilohije was a bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, theologian, university professor, author and translator. He was first the Bishop of Banat between 1985 and 1990, and then the Metropolitan Bishop of Montenegro and the Littoral from 1990, until his death. As the metropolitan bishop, he was the primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. He was one of the most influential leaders of the Serbian Church, and was among the three candidates for the Serbian patriarchate both in 1990 and 2010.
Zagreb Pride is the annual LGBTIQ+ pride march in the city of Zagreb, Croatia, which first took place in 2002, as the first successful pride march in Southeast Europe. Zagreb Pride organizers say their work was inspired by the Stonewall Riots and the Gay Liberation Front. It is self-identified as LGBTIQ+ march and therefore in 2003 changed its name from Gay Pride Zagreb into Zagreb Pride. The Pride was organized by a volunteer-based and grass-roots Organizing Committee that was formed each year. A new organization founded in 2008 as a non-governmental organization Zagreb Pride that also registered the use of the name as a brand. The organization is a member of InterPride, EPOA, IGLYO, ILGA-Europe and in 2010, together with Lesbian Organization LORI and Domino, it was the founding member of Croatian first national LGBT association, Center for LGBT Equality. Pride receives funding from the City of Zagreb and a number of international human rights organizations and embassies.
Andrija Mandić is a Montenegrin politician serving as the president of the Parliament of Montenegro since 30 October 2023 and eight-term member of the Parliament. He is the president of the right-wing New Serb Democracy. He was the head of the Democratic Front parliamentary club in the parliament until 2020.
Homosexuality in Serbia was first criminalised from 1860 through various regimes, until its first decriminalization in the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in 1977. When Vojvodina was reintroduced fully into the Republic of Serbia legal system during the breakout of Yugoslavia, it was recriminalised again, until 1994, when it was decriminalised in the entire Serbia.
The Montenegrin LGBT Association Queer Montenegro is a non-governmental organization established in October 2012. and registered in March 2013 in Podgorica. Queer Montenegro consists of longtime activists for human rights, and professionals from various fields of social life and different specialties.
Parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro on 30 August 2020. They were the fifth parliamentary in Montenegro since gaining its independence in 2006. Eighty-one members of the Montenegrin parliament were elected. Elections were organized in special conditions, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Montenegro. The parliamentary election was also held simultaneously with the local elections in five municipalities.
Aleksa Bečić is a Montenegrin politician, current Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro since 2023, who served as the president of the Parliament from 2020 until 2022. He is the founder and current president of the centrist political party Democratic Montenegro.
In late December 2019, a wave of protests started against the controversial, newly adopted "Law on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities" which effectively transferred ownership of church buildings and estates built before 1918 from the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro to the Montenegrin state. The Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, which owned 66 mainly medieval monasteries, dozens of churches and other real estate there, insisted the state wanted to impound its assets, while Pro-Western Montenegro's president Milo Đukanović, accused the Serbian church of promoting pro-Serb policies that are aimed at "undermining Montenegrin statehood".
The BIH Pride March is the LGBT pride parade in the city of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which first took place in September 2019.
Anti-Montenegrin sentiment is a generally negative view of Montenegrins as an ethnic group, commonly involving denial of the Montenegrin ethnicity and language, and negative feelings towards Montenegro. It is present in right-wing discourse in Montenegro and the ex-Yugoslavia region, mainly Serbia, and dates back to the 19th and 20th century.
In April 2021, a wave of protests, dubbed by its organizers as the Montenegrin Spring, or the Montenegrin Response or Montenegrin Answer, was launched in Montenegro against the announced adoption of regulations that will make it easier to acquire Montenegrin citizenship, but also take away the citizenship of some Montenegrin emigrants, which the protesters consider as an "attempt of the government to change the ethnic structure of Montenegro" and against the Krivokapić Cabinet, which the protesters accuse of being "treacherous" and the "satellite of Serbia".
Ne damo Crnu Goru, lit. 'We won't give up Montenegro', is a moderate right, pro-EU, pro-Serbian Orthodox Church, political organization in Montenegro. It became an influential civil and political movement during the 2020 religion law protests. The group was founded by Montenegrin professors and intellectuals in support of the Serbian Orthodox Church-led protests after a controversial law targeted the legal status and the property of the Church. Its founder and first chairman was university professor Zdravko Krivokapić, who led the opposition party For the Future of Montenegro at the 2020 parliamentary election.
A series of violent protests against the enthronement of Joanikije Mićović of the Serbian Orthodox Church as the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral took place at the historic Cetinje Monastery in September 2021.
Local elections were held in Montenegro in March and October 2022 in 13 municipalities and early elections in 2 municipalities.
Belgrade Pride is an annual pride parade held in Belgrade, Serbia to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies. The first event was held in June 2001. Since 2014, Belgrade Pride has been organized annually without bans. The manifestation is a part of the Belgrade Pride Week, which in addition to the pride parade itself also includes cultural events, workshops, discussion panels, parties and a live concert as the closing event.
Novi Sad Pride is a pride parade held in Novi Sad, second largest city in Serbia and administrative center of Vojvodina organized to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies. The event was organized in 2019 for the first time as a part of Novi Sad Pride Week held by the Social Center "Izađi," in cooperation with Belgrade Pride and supported by the City of Novi Sad.
Protests are being held in Montenegro against the dismissal of the Prime Minister, Zdravko Krivokapić, and the 42nd Cabinet of Montenegro, along with the possible formation of a temporary minority government. Since most ministers of the cabinet are close to Krivokapić, most ministers supported or attended these protests, including Vesna Bratić, Jakov Milatović and Milojko Spajić. The protests are being held in multiple cities such as Podgorica, Bijelo Polje and Berane. While most have been peaceful, there have been incidents of violence at the protests, such as the assault of a reporter of RTCG, the state media of Montenegro.
The Europe Now Movement, sometimes stylised with an exclamation mark, is a centrist political organization in Montenegro, founded in June 2022 by the former Ministers of Finance and the Economy, Milojko Spajić and Jakov Milatović, respectively. It describes itself as an economy-focused and anti-corruption movement, that is economically liberal.
On 23 October 2022, elections were held to elect members of the City Assembly of Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. Eight parties or coalitions contested for 58 seats, with a 3% vote threshold required to win seats.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)