All LGBT people are targeted in Chechnya, but the situation is far more urgent for gay men. The Russian LGBT Network was not surprised the Chechen government started its persecution of gay men again. A spokesperson for the Network told Gay Star News that the persecution likely slowed down during the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan.
News / Human Rights
On July 11th, 2017 the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL appealed to Dalia Grybauskaitė, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, asking to veto the amendments to the Law on Equal Opportunities of the Republic of Lithuania and return them to the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania for further considerations. If approved, the proposed
The UK Supreme Court has ruled same-sex married couples should get the same pension benefits as straight couples. John Walker, an ex-British army officer, brought the case with the help of human rights organization Liberty. He has been battling for five years to get this ruling. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court ruled a loophole
On 12th July, 2017 Malta’s Parliament has overwhelmingly passed marriage equality. The country’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, a strong supporter of LGBT equality, brought forward proposals to introduce equal marriage earlier this year. The proposals were given final approval by the country’s Parliament, paving the way for gay couples to start marrying. The law furthers reforms
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
Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK not to have the right to same-sex marriage. Thousands of people marched in Belfast Sunday July, 3 calling for the legalization of gay marriage in Northern Ireland. The march, organized by the Love Equality campaign, began at Writers’ Square before culminating at a rally at Belfast
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 8th July, 2017 the Baltic Pride in Tallinn invited all supporters of a fair, equal, and inclusive society to march in the first LGBT+ event in Tallinn in ten years. The representatives of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL also participated in the the Baltic Pride 2017 celebrations in Tallinn. The Baltic Pride LGBT+
On 28th June – 2nd July, 2017 Virginija Prasmickaitė, Project Coordinator of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL, and Ieva Ruzgytė, LGL Member, took part in the Oslo Pride events. The International programme hosted by Oslo Pride jointly supported by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Amnesty International Norway and the Norwegian Organization for Sexual and Gender
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