Racial discrimination is something they first encounter, and later in life they are also faced with discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
This is a brief summary of the experience of Montenegrin and Balkan Roma men and women who are part of the LGBT community.
"All this makes it difficult for Roma men and women to fit into a society that is prone to discrimination, so it very often happens that they have to hide at least one part of their identity and use it as a survival strategy. LGB Romani men and women are invisible and thus in a way their existence is denied both in the Roma community and in the LGBT community," he says for Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) 33 years old Ana Jovanovic, a transgender Roma woman.
The latest report of the European Commission shows that the Roma and LGBT communities, along with people with disabilities, are the most vulnerable groups in Montenegro and that discrimination and hate speech against them is on the rise. The situation is not much different in the region.
The CIN-CG interlocutor loved to play with dolls, wear her mother's clothes and act like a girl when she was growing up. The mother never had a problem with it, but her stepfather didn't like it, so she was taught that it wasn't the way boys should behave.
Exactly ten years ago, this now 33-year-old woman from Novi Sad had a traffic accident, during which she lost her voice due to shock. Her mother noticed that she was becoming depressed and different. Meanwhile, as Ana recovered from the accident, they began to talk about her feelings.
"Please tell me if you are gay, I know that losing your voice is not just an accident," said her mother, Ana's experience is narrated.
Ana replied that she is not gay, but that she is a trans woman. Her mother accepted her identity.
Although he has the support of his mother, Jovanović is often the target of double discrimination.
"The very fact that I am a Roma woman and a transgender person in Serbia is already excellent material for discrimination in all segments of life: work, apartment, health, interpersonal relationships and the list could go on even further. However, aware of this risk, I myself took all possible steps to protect myself from discrimination and surrounded myself with people who support me, who come from both the Roma and LGGB communities," she said.
Currently, he experiences the least discrimination in the field of employment, because he works for a non-governmental organization that deals with the protection of human rights.
"However, when it comes to the areas of health and education, here I share the fate of everyone who falls under the LGBT umbrella, except that I have another additional burden, which is the color of my skin. So, all the problems that come with the transition process, all the legal entanglements that come with changing the name on the diploma, it's all absolutely the same and I experience the same pain as all transgender people in Serbia. Considering that I have entered the transition process, and I am still waiting for the change of documentation and everything else, I expect that in the future I will face more intense cases of discrimination, because we simply live in a country that is transphobic", she said.
The Ministry of Human and Minority Rights is aware of the increasing presence of homophobia and racism.
"The historical courses of racism and homophobia are quite similar. In both cases, they refer to people who are trying to marginalize themselves. As such, they cannot influence the creation of social policies and the improvement of their position in society," the minister's department told CIN-CG. Fatmira Đeka.
In the answer, it is added that anti-Gypsyism and multiple discrimination are the main reasons for their social exclusion, while the reasons for their unfavorable position are the high unemployment rate, low school enrollment and completion rates, and generally poor living conditions.
The Ministry is currently working on the new Law on Protection of Equality and Prohibition of Discrimination. The draft of the new law recognizes more severe forms of discrimination, including multiple discrimination, that is, discrimination against the same person or group of persons on multiple grounds that can be separated. Also, intersectional discrimination is recognized, i.e. discrimination against the same person or group of persons on multiple grounds that interact at the same time in such a way that they cannot be separated.
This Draft Law also threatens high penalties for perpetrators of severe forms of discrimination, ranging up to 3.000 euros for individuals and up to 30.000 euros for legal entities.
"We believe that the new Law on the Protection of Equality and the Prohibition of Discrimination will be a strong backbone, which will enable us to fight increasingly strongly and decisively against all forms of discrimination, especially against more severe forms of discrimination such as multiple and intersectional discrimination," the Ministry said.
Deputy Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms Nerma Dobardžić Kurti she told CIN-CG that before that institution there were no cases of double discrimination based on belonging to the Roma and Egyptian communities and the LGBT population at the same time.
"Members of the Roma community and the LGBT community represent one of the vulnerable groups that are most exposed to the risk of discrimination," she said, adding that the latest research by the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) speaks in support of this.
In the research presented in December, it is stated, among other things, that the most common hate speech is against Roma and Egyptians, women and LGBT people.
Executive Director of the NGO Center for the Affirmation of the RE Population (CAREP) Nardi Ahmetovic he told CIN-CG that "patriarchy reigns in the Roma community and discrimination against the LGBT community is a taboo subject, so we have people who do not identify themselves as members of the LGBT community for this reason".
"We also believe that there are people who are members of our organization, and that they are members of the LGBT community, and as an organization that deals with human rights, we respect and support the struggle of marginalized groups, in this case the LGBT community," he said.
He points out that so far they have had no complaints or requests for help from Roma men and women who belong to the LGBTIQ community.
"We believe that there are people who belong to the LGBT community and that they suffer double discrimination in the mentioned areas", he said, adding that the Roma community respects diversity even though "it has many problems".
CAREP points out that they are the only Roma youth organization that voted and supported the "Together for LGBT Rights" coalition. The Center for Roma Initiatives is also a member of the NGO coalition.
"I believe that in the near future this topic will be recognized in the Roma community, and we as an organization will nurture and respect human rights and strive for the Roma community, whether it belongs to the LGBT+ community or not, with all its differences to be equal in Montenegrin society," he said. Ahmetović.
Ahmetović also says that education is key, noting that the Roma LGBT community is not the only one that suffers double discrimination, but also its members who are disabled.
"AraArt" is the only non-governmental organization in Europe that exclusively deals with the Roma LGBT minority and multiple discrimination.
According to the director of "AraArt" David Tisher, in order to reduce double discrimination, two things need to happen.
"First, intersectional discrimination must be responded to in a systematic and sustainable manner. We need to educate people on this topic and make them aware of the different groups of people affected by intersectional discrimination. The second level concerns legislation," Tišer told CIN-CG.
On the "AraArt" page, it is clarified that it is not only the case that the majority community often discriminates against members of minorities because of their ethnic origin or sexual orientation and gender identity, but also that the Roma community discriminates against LGBT people, because Roma society is usually very traditionally oriented towards members of sexual minorities. looks on with disapproval. A Roma community or family can go so far as to exclude a person who is LGBT+, who is sometimes homeless, family or friends.
This organization also shared the experiences of Roma from different parts of Europe. In addition to Jovanovic, she also shared the experience of the 21-year-old Brand from the Czech Republic.
"I had my first attempted murder when I was ten years old. I was a victim of bullying. Not because I'm Roma, but because I'm gay. Roma are on the fringes of Czech society. And the gay population is on the edge of Roma society," he said about his experience.
It is difficult to know if there are such shocking experiences in Montenegro, because the topic of LGBT in the Roma community is still taboo.
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