Ana Brnabić has become Serbia’s acting president following the resignation of President Aleksandar Vučić, marking another first for LGBTQIA+ representation in the Balkans. She took office on 28 September 2026, becoming the first openly gay person to serve as president of a Balkan country. Brnabić is familiar with making history: in 2017, she became Serbia’s first woman and first openly lesbian prime minister. After serving as speaker of parliament, she will now lead the country temporarily until voters choose their next president.
But Brnabić has never wanted her sexuality to define her career. “Serbia is changing and changing fast,” she said when she became prime minister, while making clear that she did not want to be branded “Serbia’s gay PM”. Instead, she wanted the focus to be on “competence, professionalism and trustworthiness”. That position also shaped her approach to LGBTQIA+ rights. She said legal reforms, including marriage equality, were not her immediate priority. In her view, better jobs, higher wages and more secure living conditions would help Serbia become more tolerant. Families needed less worry about their future and less pressure to share crowded homes across several generations.
The legal picture in Serbia is mixed. Homosexuality is legal, and laws ban discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in employment, housing, education and the media. Transgender people can change their legal gender documents, but must first receive a psychiatric diagnosis and undergo hormone therapy. Same-sex couples, however, cannot marry or legally adopt children together. For activists who have criticised Brnabić, these restrictions show why visibility alone is not enough. They argue that she should do more for equality, particularly as someone with a female partner and a son.
Brnabić has shown public support, attending Belgrade Pride in 2017 as the first Serbian prime minister to do so. Her new role brings another image of LGBTQIA+ leadership, although elections are expected within three months. Following Vučić’s departure amid protests against corruption, her presidency may be short. Its significance reaches beyond its length, but so does the debate around her: whether social acceptance grows through economic security, stronger legal protections, or both moving forward together.
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