Ljubljana is an open, tolerant, and friendly city

In 2015, the Government and National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia passed an amendment to the Marriage and Family Relations Act giving same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples. Unfortunately, the amendment's conservative opponents called for a referendum and succeeded in repealing the amendment by the end of the year. The results of the referendum, however, show a huge difference in the vote shares between urban and rural areas of Slovenia. Considering how the votes went in Ljubljana, it is clear that people in the Slovenian capital value diversity and support equal rights for all.

Equality and diversity are also valued by the City Municipality of Ljubljana, whose activities aimed at providing support to various vulnerable social groups include social security programmes in support of LGBT people. In order to raise public awareness of LGBT issues and help create a positive climate for LGBT employees and customers, the City Municipality of Ljubljana, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, has introduced a certificate called 'LGBT-friendly', which can be applied for by any interested organization, whether private or public.

Here at Ljubljana Tourism, we are proud to be a holder of the 'LGBT-friendly' certificate and we aim at providing tourism content promoting Ljubljana to the world as a LGBT-friendly destination. In the last few years, we have showcased our tourism product for LGBT visitors in Berlin and London, and the British gay magazine Attitude has listed Slovenia as one of the most desirable honeymoon destinations for British gay couples. We attend Berlin's Gay Pride, and we are delighted to support interesting and innovative projects such as the PinkWeek, an annual event held over several days during which a travel package combining visits to places of interest in Slovenia with culinary pleasures and lively entertainment is offered to LGBT visitors and their friends by Ljubljana's travel agency Imperial Luxury Travel Solutions. The next PinkWeek will take place from 26 to 29 May 2016.

We will continue to put our efforts into making Ljubljana a LGBT-friendly city as we believe this is the right direction to take.