Political elites in Bosnia and Herzegovina — especially leaders of ethnonationalist parties at all levels of government — rarely advocate for LGBTI+ and women’s rights. More often, they remain passive in cases of violence and discrimination against these groups, and sometimes are the very architects of narratives that fuel such behavior. This is reflected in rhetoric that stigmatizes LGBTI+ people and women, in political initiatives that ban LGBTI+ content in public, in the lack of legal...

Through the Political Activism Academy, organized by the Tuzla Open Center, many young women and LGBTI+ individuals experienced for the first time that politics doesn’t have to be distant, dull, or reserved for those “at the top.” One of them is Lejla, a young person from a small town in the Tuzla Canton, who, after taking part in the Academy, began to see politics from an entirely new perspective. “During the Academy, I realized that politics isn’t a space for ‘other people’ it’s for me,...

In October 2025, Tuzla Open Center opened the doors of the Academy of Political Activism, a space where curiosity, experience, and the desire for change come together. Over three days, from October 22 to 24, women and LGBTI+ people from across Tuzla Canton gathered with one common goal: to learn how to be active in their communities, how to initiate change, and how to make their voices heard. The Academy, dedicated to the theme “Women in Politics,” was much more than an educational program....