Representatives of the U.S. Department of State visited LGL

On 11th of February, 2015 in cooperation with the US Embassy in Vilnius, the LGBT* Centre of the national LGBT* organization LGL was visited by Rob Berschinski, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and Erin M Spitzer, the Program Officer of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, Policy Coordinator (Human Rights) of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL, made ​​a presentation about the situation of LGBT* people in our country and presented the main initiatives of the organization in the framework of the European Union. The goal of the meeting was to clarify the current situation of the LGBT* community in Lithuania and collaborate in order to improve it.

The representatives of the U.S. Department of State expressed their concern over the Lithuanian lawmakers’ legislative initiatives, which are often intended at limiting the rights of the LGBT* people, in particular the right of freedom of speech and the right to peaceful assembly and expression. The visitors expressed their intention to foster the support for LGBT* rights organizations also inside the international business sector, particularly by promoting and supporting their community events.