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Lithuanian Gay League is a national nonprofit, nongovernmental organization uniting homosexual, bisexual, and transgender persons, a member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) since 1994. In 1993 a constituent meeting took place. The first issue of the monthly LGL newsletter “Amsterdamas” was published. In the winter of 1995 the first lesbian and gay center opened its doors. In the spring of 1995 the Lithuanian Gay League was officially registered with the Ministry of Justice. It is one of the longest-existing NGO’s in the country.
Over the years, organization has implemented a number of projects, e.g. the first survey in the three Baltic countries on discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation; a project entitled Challenges to Family Law and Policy in Europe, followed by publications, seminars throughout the country, and the photo exhibition Living Together; The coordination of the EC initiative EQUAL project on workplace diversity was so far the biggest and most ambitious project undertaken by the organization.
LGL is running LGBT support and information centre in capital Vilnius since 2004. Current projects include collaboration with Swedish national LGBT federation RFSL for community empowerment, legal support for improvement of LGBT rights with partners from Italy, France and Poland. LGL was a co-host of ILGA-Europe annual conference 2007. This year we are working closely with the Baltic partners and Amnesty International to make the second Baltic Pride march and conference a breakthrough event for LGBT human rights in Lithuania.
Besides these projects, the LGL has also been active in lobbying: it put forward amendments prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, which were later included in the Penal and Labour codes. The LGL monitors legislation and submits proposals regarding the improvement of social conditions for LGBT persons.
LGL also includes youth group, which unites young gay men, lesbian women, bisexual and transgender persons aged up to 27 years. We engage in educational activities, e.g. publish materials, build websites, etc., support our peers (establish a help line, support groups, coming out groups), join different social activities, e.g. sports, movie screenings, discussions, etc., learn and have fun together, e.g. camping, participating in various youth activities at home and abroad, cooperate with other European LGBT youth organizations/groups or networks.
Homozigotai (Homozygotes) is an LGL group uniting homosexual couples/families in Lithuania, established in the spring of 2004. This group concentrates on developing mean of communication, socializing between homosexual couples in Lithuania, and communicating with other similar groups/associations abroad.
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