On 7th July, 2017 the representatives of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL attended the “Rainbow Rights: Promoting LGBTI Equality in Europe” project network meeting in Tallinn (Estonia). During the meeting, the associate partners and other stakeholders learned about the project’s upcoming activities and discussed recent LGBT* human rights and policy developments in the Baltic
News / LGBT Guide LT / From Lithuania
In this article we show how, in recent years, a combination of European Convention cases and advocacy at national and Strasbourg levels[1] is moving forward the debate on the rights of trans persons in Lithuania, a country where political and faith-based opposition is such that any progress for long seemed impossible. The right of trans
On 11th July, 2017 the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania voted in favor of the amendment to the Law on Equal Opportunities of the Republic of Lithuania, submitted by MPs Petras Gražulis and Agnė Širinskienė, proposing to delete any references to registered partnership in the definition of family formed by EU and EEA citizens.
On 15th June, 2017 the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania hosted a roundtable discussion “An Effective Response to Hate Crimes”. Representatives of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL, law enforcement, judicial institutions, Equal Opportunities Ombudspersons Office, the Inspector of Journalist Ethics along with number of NGOs attended the meeting. Eimutis Misiūnas,
On July 3rd, 2017 European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) invited a number of Lithuanian NGOs representatives to debate gender equality issues together with the first Vice-president of the European Commission Mr. Frans Timmermans. EVS volunteer Tatiana Kováčová of the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL was one of them. The participants presented their organizations, introduced
After defending her thesis to receive a Master’s degree in education this spring, Vilnius University graduate Akvilė Giniotaitė shared her work with LGL. Her thesis explores how non-heteronormative sexuality and gender expression are approached in Lithuanian schools. Seeking perspective into how attitudes learned and reinforced in school contribute to a heteronormative society, she analyzed state
On June 8th, 2017 during the meeting of the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands to the United Nations Office in Geneva (Switzerland), attended by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania officially joined the international Equal Rights Coalition, which aims to strengthen international efforts to assure LGBT* human rights
On 19th June, 2017 Agneta Skardžiuvienė, Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson of the Republic of Lithuania, found that Telšiai Žemaitė Gymnasium violated the Law on Equal Treatment of the Republic of Lithuania by not ensuring the absence of discrimination and material promoting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in its curriculum. It has been confirmed that
On 20th June, 2017 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia’s ‘anti-propaganda’ legislation is in breach with human rights. The federal law was adopted in 2013 and bans the “promotion” or “propaganda” of homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism. The Court found that the law breaches the right to freedom of expression (Article 10) and the
In April and May, 2017 two Lithuanian transgender men successfully defended their right to legal gender recognition. On 7th April, 2017 the Vilnius City District Court obliged the Vilnius Civil Registry to change personal identification documents by applicant M.V. with the view of obtaining legal gender recognition without undergoing the compulsory gender reassignment surgery. On
On 15th June, 2017 the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania voted down a proposal by liberal MPs to amend the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, aiming to recognize the legal status of both different-sex and same-sex couples. 29 members of the Lithuanian Parliament voted in favor of the proposal, 59 voted against,
Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė and Dalia Kuodytė, former members of the Parliament of Republic of Lithuania, were honored with the Rainbow Days 2017 Awards. During the event at the local LGBT* community center, the representatives of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL presented the Rainbow Days 2017 Award for contributions to the LGBT* human rights movement