Montenegro backs same-sex partnership as it seeks EU entry

PODGORICA, Montenegro – Lawmakers in the small Balkan country of Montenegro on Wednesday approved same-sex partnership as part of efforts to push on with joining the European Union.

They backed the change, which gives same sex couples equal legal rights as heterosexual ones except over child adoption, by a margin of 42 votes to five.

“This is a huge leap in the right direction for the Montenegrin society,” Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said. “In a European Montenegro, there is not and there should not be any room for sexual discrimination.”

And the LGBT Forum Progres group said the law has “an unspeakably tremendous importance for all LGBT persons in Montenegro.”

Montenegro has been a predominantly conservative and male-dominated society where LGBT people have often faced rejection and harassment. Boosting rights of minority groups is necessary in EU integration process.