Sarajevo Open Center - Many spheres of society still remain closed to LGBTI people

- On today, May 17, 2023, the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, we would like to remind you of the obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina when it comes to the human rights of LGBTI persons. We emphasize that these obligations derive from the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also from the European Convention on Human Rights, which is directly applicable in Bosnia and Herzegovina - the Sarajevo Open Center announced.

They point out that the process of regulating same-sex partnerships is a process that runs extremely slowly in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in the Republika Srpska it has not even started yet.

- Despite this, we record and support a large number of same-sex couples who enter into partnerships or marriages in other countries and seek recognition of the same in BiH. Several such cases are already before BiH courts with the support of the Sarajevo Open Center. The task for the authorities in the FBiH and the RS in the coming period will be to start the process in the RS, that is, to speed up the process in the FBiH - it is stated in the statement.

In the field of the rights and position of transgender people, the executive director of the Sarajevo Open Center, Emina Bošnjak, points out that "with the joint efforts of trans activists, the Sarajevo Open Center and a group of parents and their LGBTI children, problems and challenges in the field of health care for transgender people and administrative changes gender came on the radar of the cantonal and entity authorities".

- We hope that on that wave, the year 2023 will be the year in which the foundations will be laid for new regulations and practices that will fully respect the human rights of trans people when it comes to health care and the administrative procedure of gender change - Bošnjak said.

The Sarajevo Open Center points out that unfortunately, the needs and position of intersex people still remain unrecognized by most health and other institutions.

- The past year, 2022, was the year in which several key steps forward in BiH in the field of human rights of LGBTI persons took place. One of them is the finally adopted Action Plan for improving the human rights of LGBTI persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is the first time that a public policy has been adopted at the state level, which aims to respond in a systemic and comprehensive manner to the various challenges faced by LGBTI persons and provides clear instructions and obligations to competent institutions at all levels of government. The period ahead of us will be precisely the period of insistence on implementation and reporting on how much of what we have committed to as a state, is actually fulfilled and implemented. Also, all cantonal prosecutor's offices in the Federation have appointed a contact person for crimes committed out of hatred against LGBTI persons. This is the result of long-term work of the Sarajevo Open Center through advocacy, held trainings and advocacy meetings. Every successfully held BiH pride parade also represents great progress for the LGBTI community and activists, but it also reminds us of all the controversial issues that the existing regulation of the right to freedom of assembly entails - according to the Sarajevo Open Center.

They add that, nevertheless, the attacks on the LGBTI community and activists recorded in March 2023 overshadowed all the mentioned advances and once again showed the extent of the problem of homophobia present in the public, political and institutional sphere.

In addition to the important steps that have taken place in the past period, there are still pressing problems such as security issues, domestic violence, peer violence, unsanctioned hate speech in public, complete marginalization in smaller areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many spheres of society still remain closed to LGBTI people, say the Sarajevo Open Center.

- We hope that institutions and society, in the coming period, will be ready to follow the pace necessary for social changes, which for now year after year are held to the greatest extent by organizations and individuals of civil society that deal with activism and human rights - emphasizes Darko Pandurević, program and advocacy manager of the Sarajevo Open Center.

(FENA) L. N.

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