This report is a summary of developments in the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia) and Turkey from January until December 2018. 

Based on data from 133 countries from 1990 to 2014 this report from the Williams Institute examines whether there is a connection between the level of acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and the level of inclusiveness of a country's law.

ERA’s Annual General Assembly is the biggest LGBTI event organized in the region since 2015. The conference is a lobby, advocacy, capacity building and visibility event which brings together more than 160 participants from across the region, Europe and beyond. LGBTI activists, state officials (governments, Parliaments, equality bodies etc.), donors, researchers, journalists, diplomatic community, representatives of international organizations and members of the local community attend the event.  

The results of the survey on the experiences of LGBTI people in Southeastern Europe reveal a collective experience of discrimination, harassment, exclusion and violence. The report “Life on the Margins: Survey Results of the Experience of LGBTI people in South Eastern Europe” was published by the World Bank in partnership with IPSOS Strategic Marketing, ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Turkey, and the Williams Institute at UCLA.

This report has been developed as part of the project “Being LGBTI in Eastern Europe: Reducing In­equalities & Exclusion, and Combating Homophobia & Transphobia Experienced by LGBTI people in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia” (BLEE). The project considered LGBTI issues in each of the countries from a human rights and development perspective, contextualizing these against the backdrop of civil society capacity development, com­munity mobilization and government competence.

Serbian (for English see below):

Da se zna! predstavlja izveštaj o zločinu iz mržnje: "Podaci, a ne zvona i praporci - diskriminatorni incidenti i zločini motivisani homofobijom i transfobijom u Republici Srbiji u periodu od januara do novembra 2017“.

Širom Zapadnog Balkana, lezbejske, gej, biseksualne, transseksualne i interseks (LGBTI) osobe bore se za svoja prava da vode normalan život. Dok još uvek postoje zakoni i mere koje kriminalizuju i diskriminišu, nasilje i govor mržnje zasnovan na seksualnoj orijentaciji i rodnom identitetu, potrebno je još mnogo toga učiniti kako bi se postiglo puno razumevanje i jednakost.

Ovaj izvještaj je dio regionalnog projekta “Biti LGBTI osoba u Istočnoj Evropi” koji implementira UNDP a podržava USAID. Projekak se provodi u partnerstvu sa organizacijama civilnog društva i u saradnji sa organizacijom LGBTI Equal Rights Association (ERA). U Bosni i Hercegovini izvještaj je nastao u saradnji sa partnerskim organizacijama Sarajevski otvoreni centar i Action Against Aids iz Banja Luke.

This factsheet summarizes main findings of the country reports covering Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia. 

Across the Western Balkans, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Intersex (LGBTI) people are fighting for their rights to lead a normal life. While there have been laws and measures passed to criminalize discrimination, violent acts and hate speech based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI), there is much more that needs to be done in order to achieve full recognition and equality.

Serbia

Serbia has adopted a wide anti-discriminatory legal framework. However, there are legal gaps that leave the rights of LGBTI people unregulated, including the rights of same-sex partners and access to documents for trans people.