Muslim majority Kosovo considers same-sex unions amid fierce opposition

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - In a Pristina apartment, gay actors laugh and cry their way through rehearsals for a play lampooning homophobic politicians and advocating equal rights for the LGBT community in Kosovo, which may soon become the first Muslim-majority country to allow same-sex unions.

The play is scheduled to run during Pride Week in June, but may also coincide with a vote in parliament on a new civil code legalising civil unions between people of the same gender. It is not clear exactly when the vote will be held, but Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said last month it would be soon.

The passage of the code, while still uncertain, would be a major boost for gay rights in the conservative Balkans country, although many in the community fear that it will not alter entrenched attitudes.

During rehearsals, lesbian play director Arlinda Morina said she would marry her partner if the law is passed. But she did not expect to become suddenly accepted in society.

"It will make a big noise and it will give a little shake to the country, but I don't believe it will change much the way we are treated," she told Reuters.

"What could marriage change when you still are spat at and insulted in the street?"

While most of Western Europe has moved towards marriage equality, rights are restricted in much of central and eastern Europe.

Nearby Greece passed same-sex marriage into law earlier this year, becoming the first Orthodox Christian country to do so. But in Kosovo, which is more than 90-percent Muslim, Prime Minister Kurti faces objections from some of his own lawmakers including Islamic conservatives who have blocked past efforts to pass the bill.

Among the opponents is Duda Balje, a lawmaker and chairperson of the Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights.

"We don't want pressure from a small community to override what the majority is thinking," she told Reuters.

Kosovo's constitution, passed when the former Yugoslav province declared independence in 2008, says everyone has the right to marry but that laws should be passed to regulate marriages.

The government did not respond to a question on when it expects the civil code to be voted on in parliament.

A lawmaker from the ruling party told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Kurti is trying to convince the opposition to pass the code, as well as energy and infrastructure agreements, by offering to call a snap election in return.

The next election is due in February 2025.

The new civil code allows same-sex couples to register civil unions but calls for another law to regulate gay marriages.

For Blert Morina, who runs the CEL organisation that advocates for Kosovo's gay community, the new code should solve everything at once.

"The state considers us second-class citizens," said Morina, who is transgender. Discussion about the new law "has exposed us to hatred".

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Edward McAllister and Philippa Fletcher)