As the President of LGBT Forum Progress, I use this opportunity to publicly react and condemn the homophobia, misogyny and sexism that are all-present in the media campaigns of the political subject “Democrats of Montenegro”. Democrats of Montenegro have, in the recent period, launched several videos in the public, as a part of their political campaign, which contain clear elements of discrimination and degradation of women.
One of those videos contains elements of homophobia, which negatively characterise LGBTIQ persons, and describes gay men in an offensive way. The scene from that video, in which two individuals – a partisan and a četnik (chetnik) – discuss different identities in the Montenegrin society, contains, among other, words “Peder je!” (He is a fag) and “Nije peder!” (He isn’t a fag) in the context of something bad and places the identity of gay men in the same basket as ideologies, which has absolutely nothing to do with one another. What makes this additionally problematic is the fact that, through this video, LGBTIQ individuals are equated with „četnici“ (chetniks), which additionally creates negative perception among the Montenegrin public and fuels already existing homophobia. A serious and democratic political subject such as Democrats of Montenegro cannot allow itself to use the terms such as “peder” (fag), which have extremely negative and bad meaning in Montenegrin society.
Additionally, in another two videos the elements of misogyny and sexism are clearly demonstrated, as well as placing women in a subordinate and insignificant position. The videos themselves show the leader of the Democrats talking to the “man of the house” while in the background the “housewife” can be clearly seen washing the dishes, with her face never being shown, reducing her to a mere object. This representation of a woman and the role of women in a household is decades away from the values of modern Montenegro and a democratic society that is striving towards Europe.
Finally, in the fourth video, the leader of Democrats is speaking of a woman who gave birth to triplets, and referred to her childbirth as a “measure of patriotism towards her country”. I repeat that this representation of women, as “objects for childbirth”, is a big step backwards and a completely misogynous statement from a leader of a political party. The promotion of machismo and sexism in this way only widens the gap between women and men and feed the existing prejudice.
As a woman, a feminist, and a human rights defender, I have to say that I am deeply disturbed by this display of homophobia, discrimination, misogyny, and sexism that originated from the Democrats of Montenegro. The abuse of LGBTIQ persons and the degradation of women cannot have their place and a pass in the public and political dialogue in Montenegro, and these kinds of behaviours and actions mush have adequate sanctions, no matter who perpetrated them. LGBT Forum Progress has, in the past, warned about the negative use of the LGBTIQ community in the dialogue of some political subjects, but what is happening now is a significant problem for the whole society.
We call for the Democrats of Montenegro to withdraw from public all discriminatory and misogynous videos, not to use them anymore, and to issue a public apology to the LGBTIQ community and all women in Montenegro. We hope that other LGBTIQ and women’s organisations in Montenegro will join in this appeal.
Bojana Jokić, President
LGBT Forum Progress
Kao predsjednica nevladine organizacije LGBT Forum Progres, ovim putem javno reagujem i osuđujem homofobiju, mizoginiju i seksizam koji su sveprisutni u medijskim kampanjama političkog subjekta Demokratska Crna Gora. Naime, Demokratska Crna Gora je, u proteklom periodu, u javnost izbacila nekoliko video zapisa, u sklopu svoje političke kampanje, koji sadrže jasne elemente diskriminacije i unižavanja žena.
Jedan od tih video zapisa sadrži homofobne elemente, koji na negativan način karakteriše LGBTIQ osobe, a gej muškarce opisuje na pogrdan način. Scena iz tog video zapisa, u kojoj dva lica – partizan i četnik – raspravljaju o različitim identitetima u crnogorskom društvu sadrži, između ostalog, riječi: „Peder je!“ i „Nije peder!“ u kontekstu nečega jako lošeg i stavljajući identitet gej muškaraca u isti koš sa ideologijama, što apsolutno nema veze jedno s drugim. Ono što je dodatno problematično jeste i činjenica da se kroz video zapis LGBTIQ osobe izjednačavaju sa četnicima, što dodatno stvara negativnu percepciju kod šire crnogorske javnosti i potpiruje već postojeću homofobiju. Jedan ozbiljan i demokratski politički subjekt, kakav je Demokratska Crna Gora, sebi ne smije da dozvoli upotrebu termina kao što su „peder“, koji imaju izuzetno negativno i loše značenje u crnogorskom društvu.
Dodatno, u još dva video zapisa su jasno prikazani elementi mizoginije i seksizma, te stavljanja žena u podređen i beznačajan položaj. Sami video zapisi prikazuju lidera Demokratske Crne Gore kako razgovara sa „domaćinom kuće“, dok se u pozadini jasno vidi „domaćica“ kako pere suđe, kojoj ni u jednom momentu nije prikazano lice čime je ona svedena na nivo objekta. Ovakvo predstavljanje žene i uloge žena u jednom domaćinstvu je decenijama daleko od onoga što su vrijednosti savremene Crne Gore i jednog demokratskog društva koje teži ka Evropi.
Konačno, u četvrtom video zapisu lider Demokratske Crne Gore govori o ženi koja je rodila trojke, pri čemu je njen porođaj nazvao „mjerom patriotizma prema svojoj državi“. Ponavljam da je ovakvo prikazivanje žena, kao „objekata za rađanje“ veliki korak nazad i krajnje mizogina izjava od strane lidera jedne političke partije. Promocija mačizma i seksizma na ovaj način samo produbljuje jaz među ženama i muškarcima i hrani postojeće predrasude.
Kao žena, feministkinja i borac za ljudska prava moram da kažem da sam duboko pogođena prikazanom homofobijom, diskriminacijom, mizoginijom i seksizmom od strane Demokratske Crne Gore. Zloupotreba LGBTIQ osoba i omalovažavanje žena ne smiju da imaju mjesto i prolaz u javnom i političkom dijalogu u Crnoj Gori, i ovakva ponašanja i postupanja moraju da imaju adekvatne sankcije, bez obzira na počinioce. LGBT Forum Progres je i ranije upozoravao na negativnu upotrebu LGBTIQ zajednice u dijalogu nekih političkih subjekata, ali je ovo što se sada dešava itekako značajan problem za cijelo društvo.
Ovim putem javno pozivamo Demokratsku Crnu Goru da povuče iz javnosti sve diskriminatorne i mizogine video zapise, da iste više ne koristi, te da uputi javno izvinjenje LGBTIQ zajednici i svim ženama u Crnoj Gori. Nadamo se da će se ovom apelu priključiti i druge organizacije koje se bave ljudskim pravima LGBTIQ osoba i pravima žena u Crnoj Gori.
Bojana Jokić, predsjednica
LGBT Forum Progres
