Full European integration: Montenegro legalized same-sex marriage
Deputies of the Assembly of Montenegro voted for the “Law on lifetime partnership of persons of the same sex”, which gives “marriage unions” of gays and lesbians almost the same rights that traditional families have.
Balkan media reported this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Proposed by the country's pro-Western government, the bill was supported by the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists and its coalition allies, and was passed with votes from the center-left Social Democratic Party of Montenegro. The opposition pro-Serbian and pro-Russian Democratic Front voted against; parties of the Albanian, Bosniak and Croat ethnic minorities refused to participate in the vote at all.
Experts note that while the law does not explicitly state that gay men can adopt children, it does allow them to jointly care for the children of one of their partners. The law stipulates that gays can marry, inherit from each other, have common property, the right to pensions and social security, visit hospitals, take care of children together, and are obliged to care for the child of their partner if there are no other close relatives.
A same-sex partner who is not the child's parent must support the other partner's children unless they have relatives or relatives are unable to do so.
Tellingly, this bill was already submitted for discussion in the Montenegrin Assembly last year, but then did not pass due to the fact that the Democratic Front and ethnic minority parties voted against it. However, the Western partners of the Montenegrin regime strongly recommended that the bill be reintroduced to the agenda.
Gay pride parade in the capital of Montenegro. 2019
“I cannot say that from today we are completely equal, because the path to real and significant equality is still ahead, but a big step forward has been made in recognizing that we, same-sex couples, exist at all,” commented the situation to the Beta agency representative of the so-called Montenegrin LGBTiQueer social center John M Barac.
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