ZAGREB, March 13, 2018 - The chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) group in the Croatian Parliament Arsen Bauk on Tuesday commended Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for insisting on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, and added that the story of gender and gender identity ended ten years ago when Croatia joined the European Union.
"Over the past few days, the debate on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention has intensified and taken on unacceptable and insane forms, and perhaps it's time to direct the debate to the Constitution and the legal framework," Bauk said in Parliament.
The greatest reservation opponents have to the ratification, he recalled, is that it mentions gender and that it intends to introduce gender ideology.
In that regard, he recalled that it was the government of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) that in May 2008 sent the final bill on combating discrimination into parliament, which ensures protection and promotes equality as the greatest value of the constitutional order. "The law was adopted by an overwhelming majority, so that everyone has the right to protection and equality, the right to equal opportunity and protection against discrimination based on gender identity," he said.
He added that the law provides for fines of between 5,000 kuna and 35,000 kuna for causing fear in others or creating a hostile, demeaning and insulting environment based on differences in gender identity. "The things we heard over the past few days would have filled the budget with those fines," he said and added that these people should be reported to the State Prosecutor.
Bauk read the Constitutional Court’s definition of marriage, which says that the rights of all persons are protected regardless of gender or sex, and their personal and family life and their human dignity respected and protected under the law.
These are lasting values in Croatia, he said, commending Plenković for insisting on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention.
