Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Serbia, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is banned in areas such as employment, education, media, and the provision of goods and services, amongst others. Nevertheless, households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. In May , Amnesty International identified Serbia as one of a number of countries where there is a marked lack of will to tackle homophobia and transphobia , noting that public authorities had repeatedly banned pride marches on the basis of violent threats from homophobic groups.
They had also failed to protect LGBT individuals and organizations from discrimination, including verbal and social media threats and physical attacks. She was also the first Serbian Prime Minister to attend a pride parade.
Although religious laws existed prohibiting same-sex love and relationships, expressions were common in both Orthodox Christian and Islamic society. In , Serbia gained its autonomy from the Ottoman Empire following two uprisings. It did not, however, mention same-sex sexual activity; and so homosexuality became effectively legal for a period of six years. In , the Ottoman Empire , of which Serbia was nominally a vassal , legalized same-sex sexual intercourse.
In the first post-medieval Criminal Code of the Principality of Serbia , named "Kaznitelni zakon" Penalty Act , adopted in , sexual intercourse "against the order of nature" between males became punishable by from 6 months' to 4 years' imprisonment.
Like in many other countries' legal documents of the time, lesbian sexuality was ignored and not mentioned. In , Serbia became a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. At first, the new state effectively inherited the different laws that applied to the different territories that joined together often contradictory.
