Meet the Faces of Queer Youth Activism in Montenegro
On 19-23 October 2023, our IGLYO Annual Members' Conference Podgorica 2023 will gather over 70 young LGBTQI activists from across the Council of Europe Region for a 4-day programme, including joining the Montenegrin Pride March.
On this occasion, our IGLYO Communications & Network Manager Jeremy met with three local young activists to hear their story, and know more about the challenges they currently face, the achievements they are the most proud of, and the hopes they entertain for the future of our communities in the country.
Our Portraits of Queer Youth in Montenegro article series gives first-hand insights into the status quo of queer youth activism in Montenegro through the inspiring stories of Nikola Ilić (he/him, 23 years old) and Marija Jovanović (she/her, 26 years old) from IGLYO Member Spektra, and Enes Pucurica (he/him, 28 years old) from IGLYO Member Queer Montenegro.
We thank them for sharing their stories with us, and for their steady dedication to and relentless work towards the freedom and empowerment of queer young people in Montenegro.
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Nikola Ilić (he/him), 23 years old, Spektra
"When invited to introduce himself, Nikola smiles. Every time this question comes up, his answer is never the same, purely and simply because he is learning something new about himself every day. On this day, Nikola introduces himself as “someone who is trying to be free while helping others do the same, who loves sports, who dreams to see revolution happen in his lifetime, and who believes in the power of change in any kind of context.” At the age of 23, Nikola is not only a proud trans activist, he is also one of the most visible trans people in [...]" Read Nikola's full portrait.
Enes Pucurica (he/him), 28 years old, Queer Montenegro
"The sense of community; this is what matters most to Enes Pucurica. To this 28-year-old queer activist with a background in architecture and language education, and a passion for writing poetry, languages, and psychology, everything will always work out as long as we come together as a community, even if we do not always agree on everything. And this is essentially what Enes has always strived to do through his activism over the years: Contributing to building a close-knit community for marginalised identities in [...]" Read Enes' full portrait.
Marija Jovanović (she/her), 26 years old, Spektra
"Marija’s friends like to call her “the queen of hobbies”. Tattooing, nail art, sewing, DIY crafts, reading, taking pictures, recording video journals, watching TV shows, looking for new music; the list goes on and grows every day. These are all the exciting things you’ll find Marija doing when she’s not busy making things right for our queer siblings in Montenegro. Because on top of being the queen of hobbies, Marija is also a powerful young queer activist, and one of the founders of one of Montenegro’s biggest queer organisations. [...]" Read Marija's full portrait.