Local Policies for the Protection and Empowerment of LGBTI+ People: Toward the Practical Implementation of Anti-Discrimination Standards

Local communities play a crucial role in protecting and empowering LGBTI+ rights, particularly when politicians, institutions, and civil society organizations jointly use their mandates, resources, and expertise. The most effective approach combines local policymaking, functional protection mechanisms, partnerships with LGBTI+ organizations, and active political support. The Tuzla Open Center (hereinafter: TOC), a non-governmental organization working on LGBTI+ rights in Tuzla Canton and across Bosnia and Herzegovina, represents an example of productive cooperation with institutions, local authorities, and political actors committed to human and minority rights through its advocacy and educational activities.

TOC’s advocacy and educational initiatives, as well as its cooperation with the local community, can serve as a model for other organizations and municipalities, demonstrating how legal measures, institutional mechanisms, partnerships, and visible political leadership can transform communities like Tuzla into environments where LGBTI+ people are able to realize their full potential and actively participate in political, cultural, and public life.

This text was developed as an example of good practice for establishing comprehensive local anti-discrimination policies, ranging from legal foundations to concrete protection mechanisms, positive measures, and partnerships with civil society. The steps and recommendations presented here are based on analyses of TOC’s good practices in cooperation with local communities, complemented by recommendations and experiences from European examples that have produced tangible results.

Legal Foundations: From State Law to Local Decisions

The first step in building an effective protection system is establishing a strong legal foundation through local decisions or regulations that adopt an anti-discrimination program. Although Bosnia and Herzegovina has a state-level Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, which is often insufficiently implemented in practice, a local-level act can more precisely define protected grounds — including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics — as well as determine the scope of the program, responsible bodies, and obligations of all public services under the authority of a municipality or city.

A local council may adopt a decision, statutory amendment, or specific regulation stipulating that discrimination is prohibited on all relevant grounds, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics. Such a decision establishes that the prohibition of discrimination applies across all areas of local self-government competence: employment in public institutions, access to public services, allocation of grants, use of public spaces, education, culture, sports, housing, and social protection. Competent authorities define complaint submission procedures and the obligation of local administrations to act in accordance with the principle of equality.

This local act must be aligned with the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination of BiH and other domestic legislation. Considering the EU integration process, it should also comply with European standards, including the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, EU equality directives, and Council of Europe recommendations. This ensures that local policies are not merely expressions of the political will of a current administration, but part of a broader system of legal protection.

Local anti-discrimination policies cannot be limited to prohibitions alone; positive measures are equally necessary. Political actors can initiate the explicit inclusion of LGBTI+ equality in local human rights strategies, youth policies, public health, education, and cultural strategies, with clearly defined objectives, indicators, and allocated budgets. This includes training for public administration staff, police, schools, and healthcare institutions; the development of protocols for handling cases of violence and hate crimes; and public awareness campaigns affirming that LGBTI+ people are equal members of the community.

Developing a Local Anti-Discrimination Program

Following the adoption of a legal framework, the next step is developing a comprehensive local anti-discrimination program or action plan. Ideally, such a program begins with a situation analysis: How visible are LGBTI+ people in the community? What are the most common forms of discrimination and violence? What roles do institutions and civil society play? Based on this analysis, clear objectives are defined, such as increasing the reporting of hate crimes, improving access to healthcare, and reducing homophobic violence in schools.

From these objectives follow concrete measures, timelines, and responsible institutions — who does what, by when, and with which resources. Indicators of success may include the number of reported cases, the number of trained public servants, and the results of beneficiary evaluations.

Good practice involves the active participation of the LGBTI+ community and organizations from the outset, through focus groups, consultations, and joint working groups. This approach helps avoid “paper plans” that fail to reflect real needs. Programs developed through dialogue with the community have a greater likelihood of effective implementation and broader legitimacy.

Institutional Mechanisms and Equality Officers

Unlike abstract declarations, a functional system requires clearly designated responsibilities. A city or municipality may appoint an equality officer or human rights advisor responsible for implementing the program, coordinating with the Ombudsman and other institutions, or establish a Council or Committee for Human Rights or Equality that includes representatives of municipal administrations, councils, civil society organizations, minority communities, and youth structures.

Local communities can also introduce internal procedures obligating all public institutions — schools, health centers, social welfare centers, and cultural institutions — to designate a contact person for discrimination-related issues.

These mechanisms enable complaints to be received, processed, and monitored effectively, rather than remaining informal grievances that never enter official systems. An equality officer or department is designated to receive complaints, provide information, and coordinate program implementation, with clearly defined reporting procedures, response deadlines, victim protection standards, and coordination with state-level institutions such as the Ombudsman. Regular monitoring, annual reporting, and policy reviews are also introduced to identify systemic barriers and propose improvements.

Reporting, Protection, and Sanctions Procedures

A local anti-discrimination program must clearly outline how citizens can report discrimination or hate crimes and what steps follow. Key elements include accessible reporting mechanisms — online forms, physical forms, telephone lines, and the possibility of anonymous consultations — as well as clearly defined response timelines. Competent authorities must contact the affected person, inform them of further steps, and, when necessary, refer cases to the police, prosecution, or Ombudsman institutions.

Confidentiality and protection from secondary victimization must be guaranteed, and retaliation against individuals who report discrimination must be sanctioned. A system designed in this way sends a clear message to LGBTI+ people that reporting is meaningful and that concrete steps and responsible actors exist. Without clear procedures and guaranteed protection, victims are unlikely to report incidents, and institutions lack insight into the true scope of the problem.

Positive Measures: Education, Campaigns, and Practice Reform

Prohibiting discrimination alone is insufficient if institutional culture remains unchanged. Therefore, programs must include regular training for public administration staff, police officers, educators, healthcare and social service providers on LGBTI+ terminology, prejudice, legal frameworks, hate crime recognition, and privacy protection.

The integration of LGBTI+ content into educational programs, youth workshops, non-violence initiatives, and civic education — with the involvement of local LGBTI+ organizations as trainers and partners — is also essential.

These measures are preventive in nature. Their goal is not only to sanction discrimination but to build an environment in which such behavior is recognized as unacceptable. When public service employees are equipped to recognize discrimination, homophobia, and transphobia, the risk of re-victimization is reduced and trust in institutions is strengthened.

Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations

It is crucial that local political actors do not undertake this process alone, but in partnership with civil society organizations. LGBTI+ organizations possess specific expertise and direct insight into everyday experiences of discrimination, violence, and exclusion, enabling them to propose realistic policies, programs, and services.

Through formal cooperation agreements, municipalities can provide space, co-financing, and institutional support for counseling services, psychosocial and legal support, peer-support groups, and educational programs led by community organizations. In return, organizations help institutions become more accessible and sensitive to LGBTI+ needs.

Such partnerships offer several key benefits: specialized services that local institutions often cannot develop independently; improved understanding of community needs through data on unreported discrimination and violence; and opportunities for joint projects co-financed from local budgets and international funds.

These partnerships also play a vital role in building trust. Given that LGBTI+ people often trust NGOs more than state institutions, organizations can serve as bridges to the system, accompanying individuals in reporting violence and supporting them in interactions with police, social services, and healthcare providers. This increases reporting rates, improves data quality, and makes the true scale of the problem more visible, enabling better public policy planning.

Communities like Tuzla demonstrate that when a city recognizes LGBTI+ organizations as partners, provides space, includes them in working groups, and publicly supports their programs, visibility, service accessibility, and the sense of safety among LGBTI+ people significantly increase.

Political Leadership and Symbolic Measures

Local political leaders also play an important symbolic role. Their public presence at Pride marches, LGBTI+ conferences, or anti-violence campaigns, as well as clear statements condemning homophobia and transphobia, send a strong message that LGBTI+ people have institutional allies.

When mayors and councilors support event venues, security protocols, and media visibility, they simultaneously reduce space for hate and normalize diversity as part of local identity. Political leaders can shape social climates through their words and actions by publicly supporting LGBTI+ events, responding decisively to incidents, condemning violence, demanding effective investigations, and speaking on these issues without relativization.

Symbolic gestures — such as raising flags on international days, naming streets or programs after human rights activists, and integrating LGBTI+ topics into broader municipal anti-violence campaigns — help humanize public discourse and emphasize that LGBTI+ people are neighbors, friends, and allies. While symbolism alone does not change laws, it sends a clear message of belonging and institutional support.

Budgeting, Monitoring, and Sustainability

Effective local anti-discrimination programs require adequate financial and institutional support. Without budgets and monitoring mechanisms, even the most ambitious programs remain declarative. Municipalities should allocate specific budget lines for anti-discrimination measures, training, campaigns, and support for organizations working with LGBTI+ people.

It is also advisable to introduce mandatory annual implementation reports, including data on reported cases, activities conducted, training outcomes, and recommendations for improvement. Following the completion of an action plan, evaluations should be conducted, and new plans developed based on lessons learned.

Establishing advisory councils for human rights or equality — comprising representatives of institutions, civil society, and marginalized groups — helps ensure continuous policy adaptation to real needs. Through these structures, local politicians and community organizations can jointly advocate for legal amendments, new cantonal or state-level action plans, and long-term solutions. This cycle of planning, implementation, and evaluation ensures that anti-discrimination policy does not depend on a single political administration, but becomes a standard of good governance.

Linking Local and Higher Levels of Governance

Local programs are most effective when linked with state and entity action plans for LGBTI+ equality, human rights strategies, gender action plans, and similar frameworks. This linkage allows cities like Tuzla to contribute local experiences to national policy development, utilize resources and methodologies developed at national or international levels (Council of Europe, EU, UN agencies), and transfer successful local practices to other municipalities.

Local policies for protecting LGBTI+ people are most effective when they are not treated as isolated measures, but as integral components of broader equality and good governance strategies.

The Ultimate Goal: An Environment Where Diversity Is a Value and Discrimination Is Unacceptable

When legal measures, institutional mechanisms, civil society partnerships, and visible political leadership are integrated into a coherent framework, cities like Tuzla become spaces where LGBTI+ people do not merely seek protection from violence and discrimination, but have genuine opportunities to participate fully in political, cultural, and social life.

Such a model ensures that LGBTI+ people in local communities are not only formally protected on paper, but have access to real support, are taken seriously, and experience tangible improvements in everyday life — at school, at work, in healthcare settings, and in interactions with law enforcement. Through the combination of local decisions, functional mechanisms, education, budgetary support, and political leadership, an environment is created in which diversity is recognized as a value and discrimination as unacceptable — the foundation of any democratic and inclusive society.

Written by: Vanja Šunjić

This activity was supported by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives through the project “Building Political Power in the Margins: Strengthening Civic Participation of Rural Women and LGBTI+ People in Tuzla Canton through Education, Skills Training, and Community-Based Advocacy.” We are grateful to Canada for its contribution to this project through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives.