Embassies in Vilnius Raised the Rainbow Flag in Honour of IDAHOT

On the 17th of May, 2020 LGBT-friendly embassies in Vilnius raised the rainbow flag to honour the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and biphobia (IDAHOT) and to show their support for the local LGBT community. The rainbow flag decorated the embassies of the United States, Sweden, Germany, Finland, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Denmark and

EU LGBTI Survey: LGBTI Human Rights Situation in Lithuania Remains Poor

On 14th of May, 2020 the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) released its LGBTI survey findings – the world’s biggest survey of its kind with 140 000 respondents. Survey results revealed an alarming situation in Lithuania: Lithuanian respondents admitted always (14 %) or almost always (20 %) feeling downhearted or depressed. Moreover, 55 %

GENEVA, 27 April 2020—UNAIDS and MPact Global Action for Gay Men’s Health and Rights are extremely concerned that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are being singled out, blamed, abused, incarcerated and stigmatized as vectors of disease during the COVID-19 pandemic. UNAIDS and MPact are also deeply troubled that this discriminatory action is

2019 was a significant year for the LGBT community because of the important achievements made when defending its rights before national and supranational courts. In this interview, Vytautas Mizaras, a professor of the Faculty of Law in Vilnius University (VU), reviews the major achievements of LGBT human rights over the past year and looks at

2 videos on the law enforcement response to hate crimes have been published

On 22 February Europe commemorates European Day for Victims of Crime. Unfortunately, in Lithuania hate crimes are often regarded as less significant and dangerous, and despite the regulation established in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania, the motive of hate is often not considered as an aggravating circumstance. For a more effective law

Lithuanian artist Alen Chicco suffered a homophobic attack in one of Vilnius bars

Last weekend for Tomas Alenčikas-Alen Chicco was extremely uncomfortable – a visit into one of the bars ended in an assault and beating. “No, it is not filter, it’s Lithuania”, after publishing the photo, wrote Alen Chicco. When journalists contacted Tomas, he said that he had been attacked on Sunday night at the “Pilėnai” bar

On April 1, 2001, just a few seconds after midnight, Mayor of Amsterdam was the first registrar in the world to marry a gay couple. That night four same-sex couples tied the knot, followed by another 382 who married in the same month. Currently sixteen European countries fully recognize same-sex marriages, while thirteen recognize a

In today’s Chamber judgment1 in the case of Beizaras and Levickas v. Lithuania (application no. 41288/15) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been: a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights, taken in conjunction with Article 8 (right to respect for private and

First European Parliament resolution on LGBTI rights of the 9th legislature

On December 18th 2019, the European Parliament adopted its first text dedicated to LGBTI rights: a resolution on public discrimination and hate speech against LGBTI people. Malin Björk, Vice-president of the LGBTI Intergroup, said: “It is simply unacceptable to see “LGBTI-free zones” spread in an EU country.” “Adopting resolutions that discriminate against LGBTI people and their families will

LGL and All Out Started a Petition to end LGBT content censorship in Lithuania

On December 16th, 2019 LGL and All Out started collecting signatures on a petition to put an end to LGBT content censorship in Lithuania. The target of the petition is the Law on the Protection of Minors Against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information, which for almost ten years makes Lithuania the only EU member

National LGBT rights organization LGL in partnership with ACCEPT (Romania), Mladejka  LGBT organizatsiya deystvie (Bulgaria), Hatter Tarsasag (Hungary) and International LGBTI Associaction ILGA Europe starts a new project JUST EU: equality and justice for LGBTI citizens though strategic litigation. The goal of the project is to identify and prioritize the legal obstacles faced by LGBTI citizens

On Friday 13th of December 2019 the international conference “Combating homophobic, biphobic and transphobic stereotypes and prejudice by and through mainstream media” took place in the conference room of the Jurnalists’ Union of Daily Newspapers – ESIEA (Athens, Greece). The conference was organized by Colour Youth – Athens LGBTQ Youth Community, in co-operation with ΚΜΟP