Student Parliament of the University of Montenegro and NGO LGBT Forum Progress reached an agreement on joint activities
Podgorica, 28/11/2016
On November 28 2016, President of the Managing Board of NGO LGBT Forum Progress held a meeting with the management of the Student Parliament of the University of Montenegro (SPUCG), led by the President of this body, Ms. Sara Arianna Serhatlic. Present at the meeting was also Mr. Marko Popovic, representative of students at the Faculty of Philosophy, against whom a complaint was filed for hate speech directed towards the LGBT community, during mid-2015.
Representatives of LGBT Forum Progress and SPUCG had a chance to talk about the deeply rooted homo/bi/transphobia in the Montenegrin education system and the consequences of hate speech, that can never come from someone who is a student representative. It was also emphasised that many LGBTIQ persons are enrolled at Montenegrin faculties, and that they need to be ensured and granted their safety, life without fear, and encouragement to reach their full potential.
Security, as a primary component, life without discrimination, penalty for crimes, and hate speech need to be recognised and enforced, in order to make sure that the University of Montenegro, as the largest Montenegrin academic institution, is truly a place that is safe for the life, work, and activities of all students, regardless of their differences, identities, and personal characteristics.
President of the Student Parliament, Ms. Sara Arianna Serhatlic said that SPUCG bears a special respect for protection of human rights of all students that she represents. She also fully supported the organisation of the first antidiscrimination panel discussions, at the Faculty of Philosophy in Niksic, to be organised by the Student Council of the Faculty of Philosophy and LGBT Forum Progress; which will be followed by a plan of activities directed towards antidiscrimination (panels, debates, and other public events) at the University of Montenegro. Start of these activities is planned for the second semester of the current academic year.
President of the Managing Board of LGBT Forum Progress, Ms. Bojana Jokic, commended the initiative of SPUCG, and declared readiness to withdraw the complaint made against Mr. Popovic, for the sake of long-term results which can be achieved by the planned activities, adding to the quality of life of LGBTIQ persons, reduction of hate crimes and hate speech, as well as reduction of the discrimination against the LGBTIQ community. By doing this, she stated, we are not just addressing the current problem, but also acting pre-emptively on all the future problems that may come before the LGBTIQ community, during their time as students. “We have to be aware”, Jokic said “that by tolerating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes on any ground, we are enabling for homo/bi/transphobia to further develops and spreads. By doing so, we are teaching our future professors, ministers and leaders of our country the backward, fascist values, that do not belong at the largest Montenegrin educational institution”.
Montenegrin public will be timely informed about all the joint activities of the Student Parliament of the University of Montenegro and LGBT Forum Progress.
Sara Arianna Serhatlic, President of the Student Parliament of the University of Montenegro
Bojana Jokic, President of the Managing Board, LGBT Forum Progress
Studentski parlament UCG i LGBT Forum Progres postigli dogovor o zajedničkim aktivnostima
Podgorica, 28.11.2016. godine
Dana 28.11.2016. godine održan je sastanak Predsjednice Upravnog odbora nevladine organizacije LGBT Forum Progres sa rukovodstvom Studentskog parlamenta Univerziteta Crne Gore (SPUCG) na čelu sa predsjednicom Sarom Ariannom Serhatlić. Sastanku je prisustvovao i Marko Popović, predstavnik studenata Filozofskog fakulteta protiv kojeg je podnijeta prijava za govor mržnje usmjeren ka LGBT zajednici sredinom protekle godine.
LGBT Forum Progres i SPUCG tokom samog sastanka razgovarali su o duboko ukorijenjenoj homofobiji, transfobiji i bifobiji u crnogorskom obrazovnom sistemu i posljedicama govora mržnje, koji ni u kom slučaju ne smije dolaziti od predstavnika studenata. Naglašena je činjenica da na crnogorskim fakultetima studira i veliki broj LGBTIQ osoba kojima mora biti obezbjeđeno pravo na bezbjednost, siguran život bez straha, kao i opšti podsticajni uslovi u kojima mogu ostvariti svoje akademske ambicije.
Sigurnost kao primarna komponenta, borba protiv diskriminacije, sankcionisanje zločina i govora iz mržnje mora biti na vrijeme prepoznata i sankcionisanja, kako bi se na Univerzitetu Crne Gore, kao najvećoj crnogorskoj akademskoj instituciji, stvorili sigurni prostori, za život, rad i djelovanje svih studenata, bez obzira na njihove razlike, identitete i lične karakteristike.
Predsjednica SPUCG Sara Arianna Serhatlić navela je da SPUCG gaji posebno poštovanje ka zaštiti ljudskih prava svih studenata koje predstavlja, te je, zajedno sa ostalim članovima Studentskog parlamenta podržala organizaciju prve u nizu anti-diskriminacionih tribina, na Filozofskom fakultetu u Nikšiću, u organizaciji Studentskog vijeća Filozofskog fakulteta i LGBT Foruma Progres, a potom će kreirati plan sprovođenja antidiskriminacionih aktivnosti u formi tribina, debata i drugih javnih događaja na svim jedinicama UCG. Početak ovih aktivnosti planiran je za drugi semestar tekuće studijske godine.
Predsjednica UO LGBT Foruma Progres pohvalila je inicijativu SPUCG, i iskazala spremnost da zarad dugoročnih rezultata koje planirane aktivnosti mogu postići i smislu poboljšanja kvaliteta života LGBTIQ osoba, zaštite od zločina i govora iz mržnje kao diskriminacije upućene ka LGBTIQ osobama odustane od podnesene prijave protiv Popovića. Na ovaj način, kako je navela, ne tretiramo samo trenutni problem, već preventivno djelujemo na sve buduće probleme sa kojima se LGBTIQ zajednica može suočiti prilikom studiranja. „Moramo biti svjesni“, navela je Jokić “da tolerisanjem diskriminacije, govora i nasilja iz mržnje po bilo kojoj osnovi, omogućavamo homofobiji, transfobiji, i bifobiji nastavak razvitka, a buduće profesore/ice, ministre/ice, lidere/ke naše zemlje učimo zaostalim fašističkim vrijednostima, za koje njema mjesta na najvećoj crnogorskoj obrazovnoj instituciji“.
Crnogorska javnost biće blagovremeno obavještavana o svim zajedničkim aktivnostima Studentskog parlamenta Univerziteta Crne Gore i LGBT Forum Progres.
Sara Arianna Serhatlić, Predsjednica Studentskog Parlamenta Univerziteta Crne Gore
Bojana Jokić, Predsjednica Upravnog odbora LGBT Foruma Progres
