Imagine having to function with an identity document that is not yours, even for one day, having to go to the bank with it, pick up the mail, being stopped by a traffic police officer, going to a health facility, a pharmacy. And then having to live like that permanently - looking for an apartment, enrolling in college, traveling, getting married, going through any kind of demanding bureaucracy, registering, signing a contract, taking out a loan, concluding an employment contract...
This is how he describes the daily life of a trans person in Montenegro Aleksa Radonjic from the Spektra Association and adds that to this we should also add the animosity of all those who often believe that "you should not exist".
"How trans people live - they survive. The system does not recognize us, and we have to fight for a place in it every day, exposing ourselves to inconveniences that range from discrimination to serious security threats," he emphasizes.
After a decade of work on the Law on Legal Recognition of Gender Identity Based on Self-Determination and several attempts in recent years to reach the Parliament, it is still uncertain when this Law, which should make life easier for trans people in Montenegro, will be presented to the MPs and finally adopted.
This regulation should, among other things, allow transgender people to change their gender designation on documents without the need for surgery and sterilization. The current practice, which is not formally prescribed anywhere, requires them to undergo sterilization if they want to change their gender designation on documents, which is contrary to European human rights standards.
According to the Programme for the Accession of Montenegro to the European Union (EU) for the period 2026-2027, the adoption of this law is planned by June of this year.
From the Parliament of Montenegro for Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) They state that it is planned that the draft Law will be submitted to the Parliament in the second quarter of this year, with the note that for other issues we will contact the parties individually.
CIN-CG sent questions to all parliamentary majority caucuses about when they expect a vote on this law, whether their parties' MPs will vote for it, and whether its failure to pass could affect the negotiation process with the EU. By the time of publication, no response had been received.
Questions addressed to the Government, namely the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, also remained unanswered - why the draft Law has not yet been considered and forwarded to the Parliament, when will this be done, and whether the Government will meet the deadlines it itself set in the EU Accession Program.
There is a fear in the civil sector that part of the parliamentary majority is blocking the adoption of the Law.
Radonjić told CIN-CG that they never officially received any reason why the process was stagnating, but that earlier, when the Law was removed from the agenda of the Government session, they received unofficial information that it was an order from the top.
"In April 2025, the Law also becomes an official obligation within the Action Plan for Chapter 23, and September of the same year is set as the adoption deadline. That deadline was not met, and we learn the reason a few months later through the media address of the Minister Fatmira Đeka", who then emphasizes that he still does not have the support of some ministers," explains Radonjić.
He adds that the government is increasingly openly supporting the most retrograde global currents, hoping for their support in Montenegro, and that the government's actions in the case of this Law are only a symptom of the systemic condition.
"Human rights have been instrumentalized, and whether they will be respected or not depends on whether our representatives benefit from it immediately or not," Radonjić said.
EU Delegation: May influence results in Chapter 23
The European Commission (EC) gave a positive opinion on the proposed Law back in December 2024. The EC Report for 2025 warns that Montenegro has not yet adopted this law and that this remains an unfulfilled obligation in the process of harmonization with the EU acquis, especially in the chapters related to human rights and the rule of law.
The EU Delegation to CIN-CG points out that, although this Law is not explicitly listed among the final benchmarks for Chapter 23, "its adoption would strengthen the basis for establishing a convincing track record in the implementation of provisions on the prohibition of discrimination, gender equality and the fight against gender-based violence, as well as the protection of persons belonging to minorities and cultural rights in accordance with the EU acquis and European standards, which represents one of the final benchmarks for Chapter 23."
Radonjić points out that by not adopting the Law, the state is losing credibility in the negotiations and slowing down the closing of negotiation chapters, which could lead to negative assessments by the European Commission.
"This represents a continued disregard for the recommendations and a direct violation of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, which in several rulings has clearly stood in favor of protecting the rights of trans people to private and family life," said a representative of the Spektra Association.
In Europe, a growing number of countries have introduced a model of legal gender recognition based on self-determination. Such a model allows individuals to change their gender designation on documents without medical procedures, sterilization, or psychiatric diagnosis. In countries where such a procedure does not exist, some citizens are still unable to obtain personal documents that match their gender identity, which in practice can lead to problems in employment, using public services, or crossing borders.
According to organizations that monitor trans rights legislation in Europe, a dozen countries still practice sterilization or irreversible medical intervention as a condition for legal gender recognition. These countries include most of the Western Balkans, including Montenegro.
International human rights organizations and the Council of Europe consider compulsory sterilization a violation of the right to private life and bodily integrity and recommend its abolition.
Trans people exposed to higher levels of discrimination
The recent case of threats against trans activist and psychologist Ida Marković has reopened the issue of the safety and social status of trans people in Montenegro. Civil society organizations have warned that the threats of kidnapping and physical violence made to her via social media pose a serious security threat and have called on institutions to respond urgently, as well as to improve the legal framework regulating the status of trans people.
The analysis, based on research by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, which included data from 30 European countries, showed that trans people were exposed to significantly higher levels of discrimination and violence than other LGBTQI+ groups in 2024 and 2025. According to the study, around 40 percent of trans respondents reported some form of discrimination, while around a quarter said they had experienced violence in the previous year. According to data from the organization Transgender Europe, between October 2024 and September 2025, 281 murders of trans people were recorded worldwide, while more than 5.300 such cases have been recorded since 2009.
Local research also points to the serious challenges faced by trans people in Montenegro. A survey on violence against trans people, conducted by Juventas in 2023, showed that discrimination, prejudice and verbal abuse are still common experiences of this community, as well as insufficient institutional protection. Data presented by the Spektra Association shows that around 40 percent of trans women have reported discrimination in the workplace. Similar findings are reported by a regional study by the World Bank, according to which trans people in Montenegro report the highest rate of discrimination at work among LGBTIQI+ respondents.
Radonjić adds that most do not report violence due to distrust in institutions, the belief that reporting it will not lead to protection, as well as fear of additional victimization.
The new Law stipulates that when making a decision on a request to change a designation, it is prohibited to request medical examinations or evidence of medical examinations and interventions performed.
The Spektra Association previously told CIN-CG that the compromises they agreed to in order to pass this law were not small - that a person must be 18 years old, that they cannot be married in order to access this right, that the law will only apply to Montenegrin citizens, that this right cannot be accessed by persons who are in criminal proceedings, and that those serving prison sentences are also excluded from it.
Although Montenegro is not yet a member of the EU, as a candidate country it has committed to aligning its legislation with the acquis communautaire. While legal standards are being formed in Europe that strengthen the protection of gender identity, Podgorica continues to delay legislation that would bring these standards closer to Montenegrin citizens.
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