Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the Republic of Macedonia may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is legal in the Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.

Recognition of same sex relationships

There is no legal recognition of same-sex couples

Same-sex relationship

A same-sex relationship is a relationship between two persons of the same sex and can take many forms, from romantic and sexual, to non-romantic close relationships. The term is mainly associated with gay and lesbian people...

.

Living conditions

Young men and inhabitants of larger towns are generally more liberal in their attitudes towards homosexuality than elderly people, women and rural inhabitants.

The gay scene is not large but is growing slowly. As of Dec. 2006 there is only one official gay club in Skopje

Skopje

Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

and several gay-friendly establishments located in main city. Also, there are three pubs/bars that have "gay nights" in their weekly programs.

There are gay news articles regularly in both printed and electronic media, as well as 4 web sites and blogs with solely gay content, news, rights etc.

According to gay travel and rights webpage http://www.globalgayz.com/country/Macedonia/view/MKD/gay-macedonia (Macedonia article is directed in link), gays are generally extremely ostracized from society if they reveal their sexual orientation. There are many stories about public humiliations, worker firings and even casting homosexual teenagers onto the streets due to revelation of their sexual orientations. There are also many cases of police harassment of gays, despite the legality of homosexuality.

Furthermore, in Macedonia, homosexuality is still classified in medical books as a mental disorder, and gays may actually be "encouraged" to receive treatment (see link on globalgayz.com).

LGBT rights movement in Macedonia

MASSO was the first organization to promote gay rights among other organizations that work in the area of human rights. Sadly, due to internal conflicts of some of the administrative staff, the organization was closed somewhere around May 2008. Another organization that dealt with gay rights was the Center for Civil and Human Rights, but it also closed due to unknown reasons.
EGAL is an organization that works in the field of gay and lesbian health issues.