On the occasion of 17 May, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT 2026), which is being marked this year under the slogan “At the Heart of Democracy”, the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) points out that the treatment of LGBTIQ+ persons remains one of the clearest reflections of Montenegro’s democratic maturity. That reflection currently reveals a deep gap between the authorities’ European rhetoric and the reality in which LGBTIQ+ persons continue to live cautiously, exposed to humiliation, blackmail, hate speech, and violence.
According to the latest data from the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map 2026, Montenegro ranks 18th out of 49 European countries, with an overall score of 53%. However, formal progress does not necessarily mean real safety. LGBTIQ+ persons continue to face inadequate implementation of the Law on Same-Sex Life Partnership, the absence of adequate legal gender recognition, weak institutional responses to hate speech and violence, as well as a public space in which their dignity is too often treated as a legitimate target.
Within this context, reactions to the announcement of Ricky Martin’s performance marking the 20th anniversary of the restoration of Montenegro’s independence are particularly illustrative. Instead of focusing on the quality of the programme concept, the costs of the event, or the quality of its organisation, a significant number of comments focused solely on the fact that he is a gay man. This once again demonstrated that, in Montenegro, LGBTIQ+ identity is far too often not perceived as a private aspect of someone’s life, but rather as a basis for ridicule, condemnation, and political point-scoring. The message this sends is devastating: even international success and global recognition do not protect LGBTIQ+ persons from being reduced to targets.
It becomes even more dangerous when the same patterns enter institutions. The Parliament of Montenegro must not become a space in which sexual orientation is used as an insinuation, insult, or weapon for discrediting others. When public officials feel the need to justify that they are not gay, or when insinuations regarding sexual orientation are answered with threats of violence, homosexuality is publicly coded as something shameful, compromising, and dangerous. Such messages do not remain confined to the parliamentary chamber. They spread throughout society, encourage prejudice and violence, and further reinforce fear and insecurity among LGBTIQ+ persons.
CCE particularly warns that sexual orientation, privacy, and alleged recordings are increasingly being used as tools for political confrontation. This pushes the public sphere towards a culture of blackmail, voyeurism, and humiliation, in which opponents are not defeated through arguments, but through threats that they will be shamed, outed, or sexually discredited. For the LGBTIQ+ community, this sends a deeply alarming message that visibility can become a weapon, while privacy becomes currency in someone else’s political war.
Hate speech online does not end on screens. It normalises dehumanisation, brings together like-minded individuals, encourages perpetrators of violence, and creates a climate in which physical attacks become the expected continuation of what has been read in comment sections for weeks. This is not an abstract fear. The documented attacks in Podgorica in January this year, when LGBTIQ+ persons were targeted with stones, bottles, and metal bars accompanied by homophobic insults, demonstrate that the line between digital hatred and physical threat has already been crossed.
Such phenomena must therefore not be relativised as a show-business episode, parliamentary folklore, a “men’s joke”, or part of “our mentality”, as they are often described. When sexual orientation is used in public discourse for ridicule, blackmail, or threats, LGBTIQ+ persons are not being told that they are equal citizens, but rather that their dignity can become an object of public bargaining. This directly affects mental health, self-confidence, the sense of safety, and the willingness to report violence.
CCE calls on institutions to end the practice of silence, selective reactions, and the political relativisation of homophobia. The police and prosecution authorities must act decisively in cases of hate speech, threats, and violence against LGBTIQ+ persons, while public officials must bear political and social responsibility for messages that encourage intolerance. The education system must become a space where human rights, diversity, and equality are taught, rather than a place that reproduces silence, stereotypes, and fear.
This year’s IDAHOBIT slogan, “At the Heart of Democracy”, serves as a reminder that LGBTIQ+ rights are a matter of the substance of a democratic society. In Montenegro, however, these rights continue to be pushed to the margins, while homophobia is used for clicks, ratings, and political confrontation. A society in which anyone must live cautiously because of their sexual orientation or gender identity cannot be described as free, democratic, or European.
Miloš Knežević, Development Coordinator