Senior state officials, members of the diplomatic corps, prominent international experts, scholars and human rights advocates from throughout Europe, the United States and Canada will meet in Danilovgrad, Montenegro from 2-5 September for the international conference on the rights of sexual minorities and European integration, entitled “Toward Europe, Toward Equality”. The conference is organised by the Government of Montenegro, in cooperation with the International Academic Conference Justice in the Balkans: Equality for Sexual Minorities, The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law in the United States, the Lund University Department of Sociology of Law in Lund, Sweden, and the European Commission on Sexual Orientation Law (ECSOL). Financial support is provided by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Belgrade.

In their welcome letters to conference participants, prominent international experts and scholars specialising in LGBT rights welcomed the conference as a historic event, the first of its kind ever organised by a state government in the Balkans.

The event will seek to address the following government policy goals:

- Promote the fight against discrimination and the protection of human rights.
- Create a forum of understanding of the importance of Pride parades to the LGBT community and how such a parade could be successfully organised in Montenegro.
- Provide training in LGBT rights and LGBT sensitivity to judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials.
- Create public awareness and dialogue about LGBT issues.

The conference will take place at the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) in Danilovgrad.

For more details on the conference, including the agenda and participant registration, please visit the conference web page at: www.gov.me.

Programme
ECSOL-Greeting Message