August 04, 2022

Despite rampant homophobia, Bosnia protects LGBTQ+ rights

topic:	LGBT Rights
located:	Bosnia and Herzegovina
editor:	Katarina Panić

For the first time, Bosnia and Herzegovina has adopted an action plan to improve the human rights and fundamental freedoms of LGBTQ+ persons.

“In this way, we fulfil one of the key priorities in the pre-accession process of joining the European Union, as well as obligations arising from international conventions,” the Council of Ministers announced last week.

From the press conference itself, it is clear that this action is influenced by external factors and pressures rather than as a result of the maturation of both the Bosnian society and politics. Accordingly, the decision makers stress that this direction is due to the obligation needed for EU-accession, while only mentioning the internal attitudes afterwards.

“The adoption of the action plan is a confirmation of Bosnia’s determination to contribute to the respect, protection and realisation of the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ+ persons and the suppression of prejudices and stereotypes in society," the press release reads.

The document aims at three general goals: equal opportunities and prohibition of discrimination, equal rights in all areas of life and a society that respects diversity. However, Bosnian culture is far from being gay-friendly, especially outside of the capital Sarajevo. There is a massive gap between the demands for EU integration and reality.

“It is a process, and things cannot change overnight, which is understandable,” activist Branko Ćulibrk told FairPlanet. “However, the progress happened in terms of visibility of LGBTQ+ persons in public and the adequate response of the institutions to the alarming situation when we talk about violence, hate speech and hate crimes.”

The activists welcomed the concrete institutional step, even if, as expected, it was followed by a lot of hate speech, primarily online.

“Although for years, several institutions alongside the Sarajevo Open Center, SOC - especially in the fields of justice, health and social work - have been actively working on building their capacities and implementing a good part of the proposed measures, this document, for the first time, provides a comprehensive overview of what needs to be done in different areas of life relevant to [LGBTQ+] persons, and provides several new measures that individual institutions in BiH should take for the right to privacy, family life, and self-identification to finally begin to be realised for transgender persons and same-sex couples," the SOC stated. 

The laws are changing to facilitate EU-accession, but more visibility is needed to make the society’s views more accepting toward the LGBTQ+ community. Like in many other post-communist countries, it is hard to expect that the social sphere will shift from the bottom up. It is rather the other way around that this will occur: with more laws that guarantee an equitable environment coupled with rising awareness.

Photo by Claudio Schwarz

Call to Action

Foster human rights in Serbia and the Balkans

Support now