Activity Report: June 2013 – December 2014

The last two years have been very intense for PINK Embassy and the LGBTI movement in Albania. Within a short time several outdoor activities took place, such as the Diversity Festival or the Pride, which took place on May 17th 2014. The sub-commission for Human Rights of the Albanian Parliament held the first hearing session on LGBTI issues.

The Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth implemented its first Plan of Measures on combating discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and is currently working on a new plan for the period 2014-2017. Meanwhile it is preparing the Strategy for Social Inclusion, 2015-2020, where the LGBTI community as a vulnerable group is widely included. Six Municipalities signed collaboration agreements with us in order to combat discrimination at the local level.

Many national institutions, local and foreign organizations, friends and allies of the LGBTI cause have been involved in many activities which aim to integrate this topic at state and institutional levels, to raise awareness on the problems and needs of this community and properly address them. The People’s Advocate published a special report on the quality of health services for LGBTI people. The Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination published a special report on the community and the cases that it has investigated.

The Ministry of Education has agreed to assess the issue of discrimination and homophobic and transphobic bullying in Albanian schools. Lately in Tirana an emergency shelter for LGBTI people has opened while an LGBT club is open every weekend and has already become a popular place for the community even from cities like Pristina and Skopje.

However, despite all these positive developments, problems with discrimination, homophobic and transphobic speech and crimes remain high. Young LGBTI people continue to contact our organization to report homophobic and transphobic attacks, problems in their family and school and often ask for help to leave the country. Homophobic speech remains one of the biggest problems in Albanian society. Following the events around IDAHOT in May 2014, shocking declarations, comments and speech was published all over Albanian media.

The most disturbing of them all was a so-called petition of 57 intellectuals, under the title “healthy family, healthy fatherland”. The following days many of the people who were in that list, denied to have signed any petition, let alone against LGBTI people. Some of them published articles or made declarations on their social media profiles, apologizing to the LGBT community. PINK Embassy filed a complaint with the Tirana Prosecutor asking the later to initiate an investigation as this is for us a clear case of fraud and incitement to hatred. Problems with un-ethical reporting, misinformation, scandalisation of the LGBTI topic remain serious. Meanwhile, LGBTI people continue to suffer from inadequate health services considering that the Albanian health system is poorly prepared to address and solve the needs and problems of this community.

In conclusion, the last two years have been very encouraging for the LGBTI cause in Albania, even though challenges to achieving full social and economic equality remain very high. As the famous expression from Neil Armstrong says “one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind”, we believe that each individual effort made for this cause will manage to guarantee a more safe, open and respectful society for the generations to come.

To read the report click here.

Thank you for your support!

Amarildo Fecanji
Director of Programs