Dutch Men Hold Hands Against Anti-LGBT Violence

A married couple was attacked by a group of young men while holding hands at night in the city of Arnhem. Straight Dutch men have launched a campaign to hold hands in solidarity. From politicians to police to priests, heterosexual men from the Netherlands have been showing their opposition to anti-LGBT violence by holding hands

JK Rowling Gives Blessing to Powerful Harry Potter Comic Tribute for Orlando Victims

A powerful artwork featuring Harry Potter characters will appear in a comic book to raise funds for Orlando Pulse victims, after JK Rowling gave her blessing. The artwork was created by celebrated comic book artist Jim Lee – and the Potter author gave her blessing for it to appear in the ‘Love is Love’ anthology

IRISH CATHOLIC SCHOOL FLIES THE FLAG FOR GAY STUDENTS

A CORK city school is this week celebrating its first ever LGBT Awareness Week. Deerpark CBS is running the weeklong event to coincide with National Stand-Up Awareness Week, which is organised by Belong To, an Irish support group for LGBT youths. By increasing awareness, friendship and support for LGBT people, this awareness week helps to

Domestic violence in LGBT community hidden despite high rates

Domestic violence remains an “invisible” issue in the LGBT community, with many victims feeling too ashamed to make a complaint or seek support, a report in Australia has found. Currently there is also a study in Lithuania running, focussing on the local LBT community. Despite research that shows that one-third of people in a same-sex

On Thursday May 21st, Vaidas Baumila and Monika Linkytė, the representatives of Lithuania at the Eurovision Song Contest, performed in the Austrian capital Wien scoring a Eurovision first with not one, but two same-sex couple sharing a kiss on stage. Watched by millions of television across the world, singers Vaidas and Monika opened the show

LGL Celebrates International Transgender Day of Visibility

The Transgender Day of Visibility (TDoV) is an annual holiday held on March 31st, dedicated to showing support and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people around the world. The day aims to shining light upon the accomplishments of transgender people while fighting transphobia by spreading knowledge of the trans* community. Unlike Transgender Day of

The EU needs a more targeted support services for victims

Well-resourced, well-aimed victim support is vital in ensuring victims of crime have real access to justice for their plight and that their rights are respected. In the first comprehensive assessment of victim support services in the European Union, the EU Agency for Fundamental rights (FRA) noted that, despite positive developments, many Member States face considerable

The importance of supporting LGBT* civil rights organizations

In light of the persistent deterioration of LGBT* civil rights in Lithuania, many opinions and ideas surface to speculate upon the matter. Why does it seem like things are moving backwards instead of forwards? Which governmental institutions and practices help or hinder civil rights? Human Rights activists face tough challenges in Lithuania: parliamentary and media