Top homophobic politician heads to Strasbourg to represent Lithuania at the PACE

On January 15th the Board of Parliament signed the decision to send the delegation on a business trip to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) – one of the continent’s leading organizations for defending human rights in 47 countries. The members of the delegation will be the chair of the Lithuanian parliament

Lithuanian Parliament only one step away from Russian style anti-gay law

On January 21 the Seimas considered MP Gražulis’ proposal to introduce harsh fines for the „denigration of family values“ during the public events such as gay prides. 46 MPs voted in favour of amendments to the Code of Administrative Violations of Law, 10 voted against and 22 abstained. Third final reading and voting at the

Canada has cancelled a scheduled state visit following Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to approve a draconian anti-gay bill. The decision to cancel President Jonathan’s state visit to Canada was communicated through the Nigeria High Commissioner to the Supervising Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri who in turn passed on the message to the

Gay Russian protester arrested for unfurling rainbow flag at Olympic torch relay

Pavel Lebedev, of Voronezh, which is 560 miles north of Sochi, unfurled the rainbow flag as the torch passed through his hometown. The Sochi Winter Olympics will begin on 7 February and have already caused an international outcry as Russian President Vladimir Putin in June signed a bill into law banning the “promotion of non-traditional

European Parliament strongly condemns anti-LGBTI laws in Uganda, Nigeria and India

In a resolution adopted yesterday, the European Parliament strongly condemned recent moves to criminalise LGBTI people in Uganda, Nigeria and India. Parliament also called on Russia to repeal its law prohibiting the propaganda of ‘non-traditional sexual relations’. Earlier this month, Nigeria’s President signed the ‘Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill’, punishing people in a same-sex relationship with

Trans victory: Scotland removes spousal veto from gay marriage

As the Equal Opportunities Committee unanimouly passes the spousal veto amendment, Scottish Transgender Alliance’s Nathan Gale reflects on why this is a victory for all LGBTI people. In a major step forward for trans equality in Scotland, the Scottish Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee today passed an amendment to the equal marriage bill removing the spousal

The need to talk about LGBT people’s reality in Lithuania

On Sunday, 12th of January, the news of the suicide of Šarūnas from Biržai district has appeared in the media. According to the comments of his acquaintances, the presumable reason of Šarūnas suicide was his sexual orientation. The boy felt emotional pressure in the family and did not have a close person to whom he

For the recognition of family diversities – fines for thousands

The Parliament Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities approves that it would be possible to punish for public defiance of family. Appointed as principal the abovementioned committee on 14th of January was considering the draft amendment to the Code of Administrative Violations, proposed by MP Petras Gražulis. In the revised amendment it is suggested

UN human rights chief denounces new anti-homosexuality law in Nigeria

GENEVA (14 January 2014) – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday expressed her alarm at a “draconian” new law in Nigeria that criminalizes same-sex unions, saying it violates a wide range of human rights The Senate approved a revised version of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill in December, and

ILGA-Europe launches its 2014 election campaign

ILGA-Europe launches its 2014 election campaign “Come out for LGBTI equality, for human rights, for Europe, to vote”. On 14th of January at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, ILGA-Europe launched its campaign on the European elections which are taking place on 22-25 May 2014. The campaign will be launched by Euro parliamentarians and candidates for