On September 15th, 2015 the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania placed an amendment to the Law on the Fundamentals of Protection of the Rights of Child of the Republic of Lithuania, prohibiting an “adoption of Lithuanian citizens by same-sex couples”, on its agenda for the autumn’s session. The legislative motion was introduced by a notorious member of the Parliament Petras Gražulis 39 members of the Lithuanian Parliament voted in favor during the first hearing, 10 MPs voted against and 22 MPs abstained.
The legal experts of the Legal Department of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania stressed that the proposal to prohibit joint adoption by same-sex couples would violate the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). The legal experts referred to the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) judgment in the case E.B. vs. France on the state’s refusal to grant a permission for adoption on the grounds of the applicant’s sexual orientation.
“The European Court of Human Rights concluded that the applicant’s homosexuality was the basis of the state’s refusal to grant a permission to adopt. According to the ECHR, the regulations based explicitly on a person’s sexual orientation are discriminatory under the Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR),” noted the experts of the Legal Department.
The MP Gražulis confirmed that he is aware about the conclusions by the Legal Department of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania are known to him, however, according to the MP, he “could not care less”. “I know that my proposal is in conflict with the provisions of the European Union, but I do not follow the provisions and rules of the European Union,” the politician explained.
“We hope that this discriminatory legislative initiative will be prevented in the Lithuanian Parliament at further readings. According to the European Court of Human Rights, the definition of family today includes not only married opposite-sex couples and their children, but also same-sex partners and their children,” stressed Vladimir Simonko, the Executive Director of the national LGBT* rights organization LGL.
The national LGBT* rights organization LGL expresses its deep concern over the legislative initiatives aiming at limiting the fundamental rights of LGBT* individuals in Lithuania. The association LGL hopes that similar discriminatory legislative initiatives will be prevented in the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania and the rights of the citizens of Lithuania will be respected without any discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
