The political, social and institutional environment for LGBTIQ people in Croatia is unfavourable and from 2018 to 2022 there was a stagnation in the development of and respect for human rights in Croatia, it was said on Monday at a presentation of the "Pink Megaphone", a report by Zagreb Pride.

“The environment for LGBTIQ people became extremely unfavourable after the referendum on banning same-sex marriage was not prevented. This trend of creating a negative environment deteriorated in the following years through various institutional, political and other pressures,” the report states.

LGBTIQ people are still victims of violence, and the prejudice and social distance remain high, said Franko Dota of the Zagreb Pride association. He added that most victims of violence do not report those crimes.

“We have an even stronger and more emancipated LGBTIQ community in Croatia compared to the previous period, especially among the young population, however, that young population has been increasingly suffering various forms of discrimination and violence.”

Dota also concluded that in the education system topics focusing on the rights of LGBTIQ people are not addressed.

Although the Law on Life Partnership was passed in 2014, giving same-sex couples a high level of legal protection and defining that institute as a union of family life, children of life partners do not have the same legal protection as children of married and non-marital partners of different sexes, said Dota.

Gender Equality Ombudswoman: Status of LGBTIQ persons subject to monitoring by my office

At the presentation of the report, entitled “Two steps forward, one step back”, Ombudsman for Gender Equality Višnja Ljubicic underlined that the status of LGBTIQ persons is subject to “monitoring” by her office.

“Often in recent years, we have reacted to homophobic and transphobic statements by public figures and participants in high political offices that incited hatred and violence. We did not hesitate to file criminal reports,” said Ljubicic.