Montenegro's progress is still blocked by sterilization as a prerequisite for realizing the right to change gender designation in documents, and it remains one of the few European countries that grossly violates the basic human rights and dignity of a group of citizens in this way.
The Spektra Association announced that this was highlighted in the report Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of LGBTI Persons in Europe and Central Asia, by one of the largest international human rights organizations - ILGA-Europe.
"Although the proposed Draft Law on Legal Recognition of Gender Identity Based on Self-Determination has made progress, it has not yet been adopted by the end of last year. ILGA-Europe, through a report to which Spektra contributed, warns of a new era in which growing anti-LGBT legislative frameworks and policies represent the main instrument for creating a crisis for fundamental human rights, freedom and democracy as a whole, which we can already witness," the statement reads.
"Although the results of the survey on socio-economic violence against transgender people conducted by Spektra show that every participant in the survey reported experiencing some form of violence in the last five years, and that they believe that more accessible legal recognition of gender identity and stronger enforcement of anti-discrimination laws are among the most pressing issues for the community, the Government of Montenegro refuses to respond to them," the NGO points out.
They say that Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, despite the broad support of civil society organizations, international institutions such as the European Commission, the EU delegation and the European Parliament, various embassies and the Council of Europe, as well as the support of more than 100 academics, 137 regional civil society organizations, 18 members of the European Parliament and leading European human rights organizations, "blocked the law from being placed on the government agenda" and "refused to submit it to parliamentary procedure."
"It is also concerning that Montenegro, along with Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary and Kyrgyzstan, was one of the countries in which proposed laws on foreign agents posed a direct threat to civil society. Such laws are being adopted alongside laws on 'LGBT propaganda', which aim to limit the activities of civil society through criminalizing the visibility of LGBTI persons, banning content, silencing activists and restricting freedom of assembly, and which were discussed, proposed or adopted by seven countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Romania and Slovakia). Policies against the human rights of LGBTI persons and women are a tried and tested recipe for the destruction of democracy in many countries, so it is not surprising that they are becoming a central topic that all autocrats of the world are dealing with," the statement reads.
It is in this way, as they said, that "we are entering a new era in which LGBTI people have become a testing ground for laws that undermine democracy itself."
"Around the world, governments and their officials are using anti-LGBTI rhetoric to justify restrictions on freedom of speech, civil society, and fair elections. What begins as an attack on LGBTI rights is quickly escalating into a broader attack on the rights and freedoms of all individuals in society. This is not just an LGBTI issue; it is a crisis for human rights and democracy as a whole. Therefore, we call on the Government of Montenegro to demonstrate in action its European and democratic orientation, which has so far been not only declarative, but also a successful mask for anti-democratic and anti-European actions that are rapidly destroying all the democratic mechanisms and institutions we have, which they have pledged to strengthen, not to destroy," the Spektra Association said.
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