Lawmakers in Montenegro have legalized
same-sex civil partnerships, making Montenegro the first country in
the Balkans to offer such recognition.
The new bill – approved by a narrow
margin of lawmakers – gives gay and lesbian couples the same rights
as heterosexual couples except for child adoption and fostering.
John Barac, executive director of LGBT
Forum Progress, said that he was in shock.
“I honestly didn't think it would and
I still can't come to my senses that this happened in Montenegro,”
Barac tweeted.
The Serbian Orthodox Church strongly
objected to the bill. The church's opposition played a key role in
defeat of similar bills in 2014 and 2019.
According to EuroNews,
Montenegro hopes that the move will shore up its application to the
European Union.
“There can be no room for
discrimination based on sexual orientation in a European Montenegro,”
tweeted Prime Minister Dusko Markovic.
The Constitution of Montenegro defines
marriage as a heterosexual union and there is widespread opposition
to LGBT rights.
BalkanInsight
noted in reporting the bill's passage that 71 percent of Montenegrins
consider homosexuality an “illness” and 50 percent called it a
danger to society that should be suppressed by the state.