Homosexuality in Croatia

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Croatia

In Croatia , homosexuality is legally respected, but it is not accepted in parts of society. However, after violent clashes in the past, LGBT activists recently managed to hold annual gay prides in Zagreb and Split.

Legal position

Rainbow flags in Zagreb during the annual Gay Pride week

Homosexuality has been legal in Croatia since 1977 . The age of consent has been uniformly adjusted to 15 years since 1988. Since 2003, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace has been banned due to the implementation of the European Equal Treatment Framework Directive . Homosexual people can serve in the military.

Since 2003 Croatia has recognized unregistered same-sex partnerships. A law to introduce registered partnerships failed in 2005 in the Croatian parliament.

On December 1, 2013, a binding constitutional referendum was held on the prohibition of same-sex marriage in the Croatian constitution. In the vote, around 66% voted for the ban on same-sex marriage, and the turnout was 38%. Although only around 25% of the electorate supported the ban, the referendum is still valid because the previous government under Ivo Sanader had abolished any minimum participation in referendums with a view to Croatia's accession to the EU . The referendum was initiated by the U ime obitelji (“In the name of the family”) initiative and supported by church organizations and the opposition HDZ . The center-left government under Prime Minister Zoran Milanović had previously spoken out against the ban.

The government stuck to the introduction of a registered partnership even after the referendum. A corresponding law was passed in the Croatian Parliament on July 15, 2014 and came into force on September 1.

Social situation

The homosexual community can be found primarily in the capital Zagreb , Split and Rijeka . A CSD Zagreb Pride or Split Pride takes place annually in Zagreb and Split . A violent incident occurred at the 2007 Zagreb Pride when 25-year-old Josip Šitum threw five or six Molotov cocktails into the crowd. The offender was sentenced to prison.

There were massive riots against the first parade in the Croatian Adriatic city of Split on June 11, 2011: an estimated 10,000 people attacked the 300 participants in the first public gay parade in the country's largest port city with stones, fireworks, eggs, glasses and bottles. According to police, five people with injuries had to be taken to hospital. The parade had to be stopped and the participants had to flee. Amnesty International spokeswoman Nicola Duckworth condemned the violence: It is a shame that the police failed to adequately protect the marchers. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 peaceful parades took place in Split and Zagreb.

The 2013 Gay Pride in Zagreb had a total of 15,000 participants and was the largest parade in the country so far.

Tourism and homosexuality in Croatia

Tourism is an important branch of Croatia's economy. The country is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Europe and has a long tradition in tourism. The so-called "gay-friendly places" are: Rijeka , Rab , Rovinj , Hvar and Dubrovnik . In the cities mentioned there are gay-friendly hotels and guesthouses as well as bars, clubs and beaches.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Croatia is becoming civilized. In: taz . June 10, 2012, accessed December 3, 2013 .
  2. ↑ Vlada.hr ( Memento from May 27, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ gay.hr  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gay.hr  
  4. ↑ queer.de: Croatia: referendum against gay marriage but binding
  5. ↑ Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger : Croatia votes against gay marriage , December 2, 2013.
  6. ↑ Thomas Fuster: Croatia's Church exercises the protest , Neue Zürcher Zeitung , November 28, 2013
  7. ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : "In the name of the family"? , November 30, 2013.
  8. ↑ queer.de: Life partnership planned
  9. ↑ Croatia introduces registered partnerships , queer.de, July 15, 2014
  10. ^ Zagreb Pride
  11. ^ Herald Tribune: International Croat charged with hate crime for attempting to attack gay parade , October 30, 2007
  12. ↑ a b ORF news on the Internet: Homosexual parade in Croatia ends in chaos , June 12, 2011
  13. ↑ taz.de: Croatia is civilizing