Last Sunday, Member of the Lithuanian Parliament Algirdas Vaclovas Patackas warned that the head of the Lithuanian Gay League’s (LGL) engaged in “provocation” that might result in “dead bodies”, similar to recent attacks in Paris. The MP made the remarks after LGL’s head, Vladimir Simonko, suggested that the organisation should consider buying the now obsolete
News / LGBT Guide LT / From Lithuania
On January 18th, 2015 the Member of the Lithuanian Parliament Algirdas Vaclovas Patackas publicly warned the Board Chair of the national LGBT* human rights association LGL that the organization is “playing with fire” and that its activities might result in a “black, repulsive and totally unacceptable response” similar to that which “happened in Paris.” The
Manifestations of solidarity and support continue to hit the web and social media after the tragic event which unfolded in Paris on the 7th of January. Charlie Hebdo is a French weekly newspaper collecting cartoons, reports and satirical jokes with a non-conformist tone. Openly anti-religious and left-wing, the newspaper dealt with many of the most
In December 2014 LGBT* rights activists, from all regions of the world, came together and signed a joint letter to US President Barack Obama. Twenty four representatives of the world’s leading LGBT* rights organizations, including the national LGBT* rights association LGL, called on the President to actively contribute to the overall effort to bring justice and
On December 16th, 2014 the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science and Culture postponed the adoption of the controversial amendment to the Lithuanian Criminal Code, removing criminal liability for homophobic hate speech. 5 members of the Committee were in favor of the proposed amendment, 3 voted against, while the others abstained. This outcome was sufficient for
On December 12th, 2014 the national LGBT* rights organization LGL submitted a complaint to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania about hateful online comments regarding a same-sex kiss picture by two students from Kaunas. On December 8th, 2014 a young man posted a photo on social network “Facebook” showing him kissing his
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
On December 5, 2014 the national LGBT* rights organization LGL celebrated its 21st Birthday. The guests of our Birthday party had an opportunity to congratulate on the organization‘s maturity, get to know our volunteers and staff and learn more about our activities. Those who attended the celebration were also invited to participate in a lottery,
On November 30th, 2014 Lithuanian news portal lrytas.lt reported that a student was forced to leave Kaunas Juozas Naujalis Music School due to the homophobic bullying by his teachers and classmates. In the meanwhile the mother of the student was reportedly accused by teachers of interfering with the internal school policies as she defended her
On November 29, 2014 the Order and Justice Party has nominated a Member of the Lithuanian Parliament Petras Gražulis to run for Vilnius mayor’s office. “I can tell you that if I am elected, there will be no gay parades”, assured the candidate. MP Gražulis, who chairs the Party’s political group in the Lithuanian parliament,
On November 25, 2014 the Lithuanian Parliament Seimas rejected yet another candidate for the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson. In a secret ballot, 48 MPs voted in favor of appointing lawyer Diana Gumbrevičiūtė-Kuzminskienė to the position, 42 were against and 18 abstained. MP Dalia Kuodytė criticized the vote as disgraceful, saying that the outcome reflected the prevailing homophobic
The Union of Lithuanian Psychologists has issued a statement, criticizing a ban on airing a social video ad about LGBT* rights on television. Broadcasters have refused to air the video, saying it would violate a controversial minors protection law, but psychologists claim censorship of this kind is what does harm to children rather than messages