Baltic Pride 2016 Organisers Welcome Support from Rūta Meilutytė

The charitable fund of Rūta Meilutytė, Lithuania’s Olympic Gold medallist and World Record holder in swimming, sent a homophobic email to the organisers of Baltic Pride 2016, taking a strong stand against the event and calling gays “an anomaly”. The email, signed by Rūta’s father who manages the affairs of the young swimmer, came in response to an

Mika: “Tolerance must be provoked”

A British singer and songwriter Mika, who will perform in Lithuania for the second time in Kaunas Žalgiris arena on the 23d May, 2016 spoke to portal 15min.lt about homophobia and the need to foster tolerance in Lithuania and abroad. You have mentioned that your albums are very personal. I understand that one of them contained

Five homophobic and transphobic law projects in the Parliament agenda

On 15th of March Lithuanian Parliament confirmed their new agenda which lists 5 initiatives seeking to restrict LGBT* persons’ human rights once again. The proposal to change article 38 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania is of discriminatory nature and first registered at Seimas by the end of the year 2013. This amendment

Lithuania’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius abstained from commenting on the proposal by the MP Petras Gražulis to introduce administrative liability for any public denigration of the “constitutional family values”. However, the Prime Minister of Lithuania insists that „society must conform to the norms of decency“ or otherwise „claim responsibility“. „I really can not

On November 12, 2015 the notorious “anti-gay propaganda” bill was removed from the Lithuanian Parliament’s agenda for the time being. 65 members of the Lithuanian Parliament voted for the proposition to remove the consideration of the draft amendment to the Code of Administrative Violations No. XIP-4490(3), which seeks to introduce administrative liability for any public

Lithuanian Parliament to Vote on Russian Style “Anti-Gay Propaganda” Law Again

On November 10th, 2015 at 11 AM the notorious “anti-gay propaganda” bill unexpectedly appeared on the Lithuanian Parliament’s agenda again. The consideration of the draft amendment to the Code of Administrative Violations No. XIP-4490(3), which seeks to introduce administrative liability for any public denigration of the “constitutional family values” was postponed until the final hearing

Lithuanian Conservative Party Proposes Referendum Idea for Same-Sex Partnerships

On October 19th, 2015 the MP and one of the leaders of the Lithuanian conservative party “Homeland Union” Vilija Aleknaitė-Abramikienė in the course of an interview to the radio station “Žinių radijas” regarding the possible legislation on civil partnerships claimed that “based on the current legal situation, we have to propose a public referendum on

Parliament demands Commission and Member States to tackle homophobia in schools

The European Parliament agreed that the European Commission and Member States should work together to tackle homophobia and transphobia in education. The report, authored by Portuguese Member Liliana Rodrigues, calls on the Commission to “combat discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in educational settings.” Furthermore, it “urges the Commission to support

The Vicious Circle: Psychologists’ Studios and Fear of Being Stigmatized

Where can victims of domestic and dating violence seek for help or support in Lithuania? From an analysis of interviews taken from LBT* women of the local community, the answer keeps repeating itself: to psychologists and never to police. However, are psychologists in this country trained to deal with LGBT* issues? I asked this question

On the 3d of September, 2015 the national LGBT* rights organization LGL received an official letter from the United Nations, International Organizations and Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, informing about Lithuania’s position in the U.N. Security Council meeting on the 24th of August, 2015. In response