The Long March Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Summer is the time of Pride marches. The numerous marches in Europe are a testament to the ground-breaking progress toward acceptance of the equal rights of lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons. In the vast majority of European countries, and elsewhere in the world, crowds have been rallying to celebrate – or claim

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 national LGBT* rights organization LGL proudly presents its brand new publication “Transgender people’s human rights standards: gender reassignment and legal recognition” in Lithuanian. The publication is intended to share the best practices for the protection of transgender persons’ human rights as far as medical gender reassignment and legal recognition are concerned. The publication developed

Commissioner Jourová committed to LGBTI action plan in 2015

In a debate with the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on Tuesday, Justice commissioner Vera Jourová confirmed her commitment to create a roadmap or action plan on LGBTI rights. In response to oral questions by Sophie in ‘t Veld MEP and Helga Stevens MEP, Vice-President and Member of the LGBTI Intergroup,

IDAHO 2015 Forum Held in Montenegro

No cultural, traditional or religious values can justify hate crimes against LGBT* people. Such was the basis of the third international forum for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), which was held in Montenegro and serves as a message to European governments. The event was organized by the Montenegrin government, which was represented

Lithuanian Transgender Entertainer Experienced Transphobia in a Gym in Vilnius

Women exercising together with the Lithuanian transgender entertainer Agness Landau in a Vilnius gym did not wish to change their clothes in the same locker room. The gym, which has locker rooms for both women and men, refused to comment upon the situation to Lithuanian TV journalists. However, the spokesperson of a gym claimed that

LGL proposed that the ‘Lithuania Post’ commemorate the IDAHOT

On February 10th, 2015, the national LGBT* rights organization LGL proposed that the stamp publishing department of the ‘Lithuanian Post’ include the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia– celebrated on May 17th– in its 2016 stamp-planning contest. In its letter, LGL emphasized that the contest, organized by the ‘Lithuania Post,’ would provide an opportunity for

Transgender Entertainer Participates in Lithuanian TV Dance Project

On December 6th, 2014 Lithuanian commercial TV channel “TV3” broadcasted the premiere of the fifth season of the TV show “Dance With Me”, featuring a transgender entertainer and hair stylist Agness Landau. Lithuanian news portal 15min.lt reported that Agness Landau had experienced some negative emotions before her performance due to some transphobic remarks made by

Topics of gender identity are not permitted in Lithuanian textbooks

23 Members of Parliament addressed Minister of Education Dainius Pavalkis, inquiring about a newly published textbook of the Lithuanian language. The textbook, intended for 4th graders, contains a story of a girl who comes to a new school pretending she is a boy and is happy that everyone believes her. According to some politicians, the