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Montenegro legalises same-se-x partnerships

chuks oti

Jul 02, 2020

Montenegro legalised same-se-x civil partnerships in a move welcomed Thursday by LGBT groups as a "big step" although adoption still remains out of reach.

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The law was adopted late Wednesday a year after it was initially voted down.

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"A big step was made towards equality, but the path towards real equality is still ahead of us," said Jovan Ulicevic, head of Spektra association for transgender rights.

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"We continue to fight until everyone in the society will be respected," Ulicevic told AFP.

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Montenegro, which aspires to join the European Union, remains divided over the issue of gay rights.

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Tolerance has increased in recent years but there is still a strong strain of machismo and social conservatism in the tiny country of 650,000 people.

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Seventy percent of Montenegrins considered homosexuality a disease when the first Gay Pride march was held in 2013 - an event marred by clashes with hooligans.

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But more recent surveys have shown that nearly half the population believes that the rights of the LGBT community are not fully respected.

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However, public expression of affection among same-se-x couples is still not widely tolerated, according to surveys.

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On Twitter, President Milo Djukanovic, whose ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) backed the law, said Montenegro was taking "one step closer to joining the most developed world democracies!".

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AFP

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— chuks oti

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