North Macedonia

Overview

LGBT relationships have been legal in North Macedonia since 1996. In 2017 the Parliament established an inter-party parliamentary group to work on improving the rights of LGBTI. In March 2019 Parliament voted a new anti-discrimination law, a comprehensive legal framework against discrimination on grounds of gender identity, equal laws and provisions and discrimination in employment. The parliamentary group works directly with civil society organizations in ensuring that legislation is in line with the new anti-discrimination law. Marriage between same-sex couples remains illegal. While gays and lesbians are openly allowed to serve in the army, the adoption of children for gay couples is not legal. The first Pride Week was held in Skopje in 2013.

• An overview of rights and legal acts by ILGA Europe [in English].
• Country ranking by ILGA Europe [in English].

Academic institutions

• Gender Studies Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, State University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje. 
• The Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities Skopje (ISSHS) - a nonprofit research organization in applied humanities studies,  offers MA level programs in cultural and gender studies.

Resources

Books

• Bilić, B., & Radoman, M. (2019). Lesbian activism in the (post-)Yugoslav space: Sisterhood and unity.  Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Bilić, B. (2016). LGBT activism and Europeanisation in the post-Yugoslav space: On the rainbow way to Europe. (Palgrave studies in European political sociology). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Daskalova et al. (2012). Gendering post-socialist transition: studies of changing gender perspectives. Wien: Lit Verlag.
• Hassenstab et al. (2015). Gender (in)equality and gender politics in Southeastern Europe: a question of justice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Kulpa, R. & Mizielińska, J. (2011). De-centring Western sexualities: Central and Eastern European perspectives. Farnham: Ashgate.
• Rosić, T. I., Koteska, J., Ljumović, J. (2015). Representation of Gender Minority Groups in Media: Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia: collection of papers from regional conference Representation of Gender Minority Groups in Media: Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, 30th - 31st May 2015, FMK, Belgrade. Belgrade, Serbia: Faculty of Media and Communications. 

Periodicals

Selected journal articles

• Badarevski, B. (2002). Science, Gay Gene, Human Rights. Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Summer 2002): 17-36.
• Lambevski, S.A. (1999). Suck My Nation - Masculinity, Ethnicity and the Politics of (Homo)sex. Sexualities, 2(4), pp.397-419.
• Stojanovski, K. et al., 2019. ‘Until we have laws … everything is useless!’: intersectionality, self-identified needs and inequity among sexual and gender minorities in Macedonia. Culture, Health & Sexuality, pp.1–16.
• Trajanoski, Zarko. (2005). Сеништето на хомосексуалноста кружи над Македонија. Идентитети: Списание за политика, род и култура, Issue 8-9, pp.201-239.

Repositories

• Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje Repository browse by author, faculty [in Macedonian and English].
• UGD Academic Repository a collection of scientific research publications by researchers at the University of Goce Delchev, Štip. The collection includes faculty publications, masters and doctoral theses. This repository is updated regularly, and new items are added continuously to the database [in Macedonian and English].

Data and statistics

• North Macedonia hate crime data by OSCE ODIHR [in English].
• State-Sponsored Homophobia report - latest edition, includes maps and dataset, ILGA Europe - a world survey of sexual orientation laws + older editions [in English].

Reports

• Annual reports on the sexual and health rights of marginalised communities 2009 - 2015. Skopje: Coalition Margini [in Macedonian].
• Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex People in North Macedonia covering the period of January to December 2020. ILGA Europe [in English].
• Being LGBTI in Eastern Europe: The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Country Report. UNDP, 2017 [in English].
• ECRI - Country monitoring in Macedonia. Reports, 1998 - 2020 [in English].
• ​ILGA-Europe's submissions to Progress Reports of the European Union [in English].
• Life on the Margins: Survey Results of the Experiences of LGBTI People in Southeastern Europe. World Bank Group, September 2018 [in English].

News portals

• BalkanInsight - a website of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, that focuses on news, analysis, commentary and investigative reporting from southeast Europe [in English].

Audio-visual

• Би се викал Барбара/Call me Barbara (2013) - a short documentary about Macedonian singer Filip Janevski - Fifi. Director: Ana Jakimska. Production: Faculty of dramatic arts – Skopje [with English subtitles].

Digital libraries and archives

• Digital Library of North Macedonia selection of digitised material from The National and University Library St Clement of Ohrid including books, periodicals, maps and audio collections, as well as some rare books from Italian Library of North Macedonia [in Macedonian]. 

Organisations

• The Coalition “Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalized Communities” (SHRMC) - promotes the fundamental human rights of marginalized communities, with focus on LGBTI persons, drug users, people living with HIV, sex workers and marginalized women. They work directly with marginalized communities in the creation and implementation of policies. They publish on marginalized communities and on LGBT and Gender [in Macedonian, Albanian, English].
• EGAL Equality to Gays and Lesbians - EGAL's work focuses on improving sexual health and quality of living of the LGBT population, and on overcoming homophobia in Macedonian society. They work on the development of sexual and psycho-social health of LGBT people and their families, promotion of LGBT culture, and education of LGBT people across  Macedonia. EGAL is member of AIDS Action Europe [in Macedonian, English].
• ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey is a Regional Association of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer organizations from Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. [in English].
• LGBTI support centre is subsidiary of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia located in Skopje that works on changing the legal and social status of the LGBTI people in Macedonia through community strengthening, advocacy and free legal aid [in Macedonian, Albanian, English].
• LGBT United Tetovo - a lobbying and advocacy  NGO for LGBT rights based in Tetovo [in Macedonian, Albanian, English, Turkish, Romanian].
• Queer Square  - an association for cultural and media activism. It works towards raising LGBT profile through events and activism [in Macedonian, English].
• Subverziven Front - an association for a critical approach to gender and sexuality. It works towards promoting equal rights through research and policy publications. Their publications range from Handbook on how to do social work with the LGBT people in Macedonia to LGBT Political participation in the Western Balkans and protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual and gender identity. They publicise their events on their Facebook page [in Macedonian, English].

Other resources

• ERA - Online Resource Centre [in English].