The group of the Lithuanian MPs seeks to establish that the criticism of homosexuality and attempts to change one’s sexual orientation would not be qualified as discrimination or harassment on grounds of sexual orientation. The MPs propose to amend the Criminal Code by inserting a provision that “the criticism of sexual behavior or sexual practices, convictions or
Author Archive: Eglė
Today the European Parliament adopted a new version of the European Union law on asylum procedures. The text contains notable improvements for LGBT asylum-seekers. The new Directive now foresees that some asylum-seekers “may be in need of special procedural guarantees due […] to their age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity […]“. When receiving an asylum application, Member
An LGBT pride march scheduled to be held in Vilnius in July is an opportunity for Lithuania to get positive attention from Europe and to demonstrate its human rights progress, Vilnius-based ambassadors of some Northern and Western European countries have told BNS. The embassies of the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland say
Lithuania (on behalf of the EU and its Member States) delivered a speech at the meeting of the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was debating LGBT health issues and said that the EU welcomes the initiative towards improving the health and well-being of LGBT people and suggesting broadening the topic to
The European Union will respond to attempts by any EU member state to ignore EU legislation and treaties defending people’s right to live the life they want to live, European Commission Vice-President, European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding, said in Vilnius on Friday when asked to comment on initiatives by some
The LRT Council, i.e. the highest decision-making body of the Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT), will decide, whether to broadcast the Baltic Pride 2013 Vilnius 2013 March for Equality social advertising campaign on the national television by the end of June 2013, says the TV Managing Director Rimvydas Paleckis. The administration of the LRT has
On 23 May 2013 the Lithuanian Parliament made a first step towards explicitly prohibiting the procedure of gender reassignment in Lithuania by placing the corresponding amendment to the Civil Code on the parliamentary agenda. 36 MPs voted in favor of the proposal, 3 MPs – against and 1 MP abstained (the full voting results can
The results of the EU LGBT Survey, published by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) on 17 May 2013, indicate that 61% of the Lithuanian LGBT* community suffer from discrimination or harassment. According to the survey, it is the highest ratio of hostility towards the local LGBT* community among 27 EU Member States and Croatia.
he Lithuanian Parliament has approved for discussion an amendment to the Civil Code which, if passed, would impose a ban on sex change. The proposed change, which suggests that “medical change of sex is banned in Lithuania,” will now be discussed by parliamentary committees. The current wording of the Civil Code suggest that unmarried adults
Several bills currently under discussion at the Lithuanian parliament that, if passed, would restrict LGBT rights harms the country’s image on the international arena, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius says. “I think you will agree that Lithuania is not a homophobic country, and everyone trying to depict the situation differently may be trying to harm our