In this article we show how, in recent years, a combination of European Convention cases and advocacy at national and Strasbourg levels[1] is moving forward the debate on the rights of trans persons in Lithuania, a country where political and faith-based opposition is such that any progress for long seemed impossible. The right of trans
News / Human Rights
On 8th July, 2017 the Baltic Pride in Tallinn invited all supporters of a fair, equal, and inclusive society to march in the first LGBT+ event in Tallinn in ten years. The representatives of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL also participated in the the Baltic Pride 2017 celebrations in Tallinn. The Baltic Pride LGBT+
On 28th June – 2nd July, 2017 Virginija Prasmickaitė, Project Coordinator of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL, and Ieva Ruzgytė, LGL Member, took part in the Oslo Pride events. The International programme hosted by Oslo Pride jointly supported by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Amnesty International Norway and the Norwegian Organization for Sexual and Gender
On 11th July, 2017 the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania voted in favor of the amendment to the Law on Equal Opportunities of the Republic of Lithuania, submitted by MPs Petras Gražulis and Agnė Širinskienė, proposing to delete any references to registered partnership in the definition of family formed by EU and EEA citizens.
On 15th June, 2017 the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania hosted a roundtable discussion “An Effective Response to Hate Crimes”. Representatives of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL, law enforcement, judicial institutions, Equal Opportunities Ombudspersons Office, the Inspector of Journalist Ethics along with number of NGOs attended the meeting. Eimutis Misiūnas,
On July 3rd, 2017 European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) invited a number of Lithuanian NGOs representatives to debate gender equality issues together with the first Vice-president of the European Commission Mr. Frans Timmermans. EVS volunteer Tatiana Kováčová of the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL was one of them. The participants presented their organizations, introduced
‘The authorities… should readily extend their helping hand rather than denying the same looking down upon them.’ A man who transitioned after graduating from university should be allowed to update his school records to reflect his true gender. The Madras High Court in Tamil Nadu, India ruled on a petition filed by a transgender software engineer
After defending her thesis to receive a Master’s degree in education this spring, Vilnius University graduate Akvilė Giniotaitė shared her work with LGL. Her thesis explores how non-heteronormative sexuality and gender expression are approached in Lithuanian schools. Seeking perspective into how attitudes learned and reinforced in school contribute to a heteronormative society, she analyzed state
On June 8th, 2017 during the meeting of the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands to the United Nations Office in Geneva (Switzerland), attended by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania officially joined the international Equal Rights Coalition, which aims to strengthen international efforts to assure LGBT* human rights
Michigan has changed its policy on providing medically necessary treatments to transgender prison inmates. A new policy adopted by the Michigan Department of Corrections takes effect today which means transgender people can receive hormone therapy and other medical treatments while in prison. The change came after a trans woman incarcerated pushed the MDoC to change
German lawmakers on Friday approved a bill that will extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The measure passed in the lower house of the German Parliament, which is known as the Bundestag, by 393-226 vote margin with four abstentions. The vote took place less than a week after Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her position on
Angela Merkel has softened on her opposition to same-sex marriage. Chancellor Merkel has repeatedly ruled out calls to introduce equal marriage, saying: “For me, marriage is a man and a woman living together.” The upper house of the German Parliament has previously passed symbolic motions calling for same-sex marriage. The German Chancellor on Monday for