Vladimir Simonko, Executive Director of the National LGBTI rights organisation LGL, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary recently, says that since the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, it has been difficult for changes in the LGBTIQ sphere to find their way onto the political agenda: “The LGBTIQ community had high hopes for Lithuania when it regained its

Authorities and NGOs Discussed the Needs for a National LGBTIQ Plan

On 30 October 2023  Lithuanian Gay League together with the Seimas Ombudspersons’ Office organised an inter-institutional roundtable discussion on the implementation of the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy and the needs for a national LGBTIQ Human Rights Plan, which was attended by more than 20 representatives from ministries, the Office of the Ombudsman for Equality of

On 28th of July, 2023, LGL organized intersectional discussion on hate crime victim support with the cooperation of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania. A group of experts discussed the challenges of providing support to victims of hate crimes and the opportunities for improving the system of providing assistance. The meeting focused on the

LGL Briefs Council of Europe on Execution of Beizaras and Levickas v. Lithuania

On July 31st, 2023, LGL submitted a brief regarding execution of Beizaras and Levickas v. Lithuania (Application Number 41288/15) under the Rule 9.2 of the Rules of the Committee of Ministers for supervising execution of the ECtHR judgments. While LGL, which also represented applicants before national courts as well as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHtR),

Vilnius court rejects request to register same-sex marriage

The Vilnius District Court on Friday rejected an appeal from a same-sex couple seeking to have their marriage recognised by the Lithuanian authorities, reports lrt.lt. The two male claimants were asking the court to oblige the Vilnius City Civil Registry Office to register their marriage and to have it entered into the Register of Marriage

Vilnius Pride took place on the 1st of July, Mayor participated at the event

Thousands of LGBTIQ community members and its allies marched in a successful Vilnius Pride event which took place on the 1st of July. Newly elected Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas also joined the Pride march this year. According to the organizers of the event, “LGBTQ+ people in Lithuania are still being used as political tools –

Klaipėda district mayor Bronius Markauskas says that he himself will not support the initiative of the Lithuanian Family Movement to adopt a declaration “On stopping genderism propaganda and LGBTQ+ ideology in the municipality” and will urge his colleagues not to support it as well, BNS reports. Lithuanian Family Movement  (Lietuvos šeimų sąjūdis) is a non-governmental organization closely allied

Authorities took first steps to preserve LGBTIQ heritage in Lithuania

After the massive success of Baltic Pride 2022 in Vilnius, the National Museum of Lithuania took the first steps to preserve the vibrant LGBTIQ heritage in Lithuania. Last year, the Museum’s History Collections Department began collecting exhibits from the LGBT+ community and approached  Lithuanian Gay League (LGL) for cooperation. LGL began its LGBTIQ human rights advocacy work

“Direction: Employment” is an innovative training program for vulnerable young people, which enhances their employability in competitive, high-technology industries and the IT sector. The project aims to unleash the potential of NEET young people from vulnerable groups, and increase their employability by providing a market-specific IT training program in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Italy, Slovenia and Portugal.

Lithuania did not ensure equal opportunities for asylum seekers and migrants who came to Lithuania through Belarus and violated their rights, the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson of the Republic of Lithuania stated in its report. This, according to the Office, could have been avoided by using alternative measures to detention, reports delfi.lt. The

The First EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy Discussed at the National Human Rights Forum

On 9 December, 2022 the National LGBT rights organization LGL organized a discussion “The first EU LGBTIQ equality strategy 2020-2025: will LGBTIQ-inclusive policy become integral to Lithuanian strategic targets?” at the National Human Rights Forum. The first EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 calls on the EU Member States to draw up national action plans for

Report on Hate Speech and Euroscepticism Shows Little Progress on LGBTI rights

In September, 2022 the Human Rights Monitoring Institute in Vilnius published a national report on Hate speech and Euroscepticism. The study was conducted among young people (16-25) over 10 years, from 2010 till 2020, with some events from 2021 included. Here are some main findings concerning the LGBTI issues: Indeed, the report shows a social