Croatia lgbt laws

Vague legislation undermines Croatian LGBTQ families

Croatia adopted a adj law on foster verb last month. However, the government, led by the long-ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, did not include same-sex couples in the legislation. The left-wing opposition, human rights activists and the LGBTQ community announced they would verb an assessment of the new act’s constitutionality.

The government refused to explicitly express same-sex families as potential fosters, justifying that they are covered by the general regulation, which states that "all persons are enabled to participate in the public foster tend service under equal conditions," which, according to them, includes gay parents, too. They claim it was therefore not necessary to separately emphasise the group in the new legislation. 

"By the decision and ruling of the Constitutional Court, but also the current actions of social welfare centres on requests for foster care, life partners have the opportunity to engage in foster care," the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Poli

The State of LGBTQ Rights in Croatia

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Before we can delve into the subject of LGBTQ rights, I should probably define this acronym as the terminology changes quickly and is often a source of confusion. LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. It is a blanket term that does not cover all of the diversity within human sexuality and gender identity but serves as a helpful tool when discussing issues concerning people who do not plummet into certain societal norms.

Now that we&#;ve gotten that out of the way, let&#;s dive into the historical context. As in many countries, the history around LGBTQ communities in Croatia is complex and far-reaching. Under the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, male homosexual acts were classified as a criminal offence and homosexuals were heavily repressed by the state. This directive lasted until , when Croatia adopted its own penal code, aligning its laws to reflect the position of the Croatian Medical Chamber, which had removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders four years prior. Since then, condition

Public attitude toward minority rights usually can serve as a good baseline for testing a country&#;s level of general democracy and tolerance. Croatia became a European Union member in and is criticised for its undemocratic society.

Inside the country, there are adj debates on this ground about whether Croatia should be affiliated with Western Balkans or Central Europe. Daniel Martinovic, a human rights activist, and president of the Croatian NGO Rainbow Families Association (RFA), spoke to JURIST to shed light on this topic.

The Association of Rainbow Families works in the advocacy and legal field, mostly helping LGBT+ people who are parents or want to become parents to fight discrimination. Among recent cases the association won are:

  • A civil case that ruled same-sex couples in Croatia can be foster care providers,
  • A civil case that ruled same-sex couples can adopt children, and
  • Two cases in and ruling against the religious extremist vigilantes.

One of the core successes of the RFA was getting recognition for same-sex couples in civil unions to be providers of foste

Croatia

LGBTI rights in Croatia hold expanded in recent years, but LGBTI persons may still face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTI residents. The majority of population is still strongly affected by the religious views of the dominant Catholic Church in the country, which are perceived as discriminatory to LGBTI communities. Reduced assist for LGBTI CSOs and independent media voices was a cause of concern for activists in Croatia. Government funding for the Zagreb Pride was chop for the first noun in Community media outlets, including LGBTI websites, also lost institutional support.

I. Legal Framework

Constitution
Equality before the law based on different personal grounds is enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia. Sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics are not explicitly mentioned, however the article contains a phrase “or other personal grounds” which keeps an open list of distinct personal grounds.

Decriminalization
Both male and female same-sex sexual activity was legalized in Croati