On December 5th, 2016 the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania ruled that the case regarding the Lithuanian Migration Department‘s refusal to issue a temporary residence permit to a Belarusian man, who is married to his Lithuanian same-sex partner under the Danish law, will be referred to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania. The
News / Human Rights
From December 12-13th, 2016, representatives of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL and international project partners and experts took part in the final “Hate No More” conference in Warsaw. During the conference, activities implemented by the project were reviewed and a study was presented on the needs of people affected by homophobic and transphobic violence
On December 13, 2016, the European Parliament adopted a new comprehensive report on fundamental rights in the EU. The report assesses how fundamental rights are implemented in the EU, and what must still be done to reach standards laid down in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The document includes an extensive snapshot of the situation
Neringa Dangvydė, the author of the fairytale book Amber Heart, has secured her first victory: the court will have to reexamine whether fairytales depicting homosexual characters should be considered as “harmful to minors”. The Supreme Court of Lithuania revoked previous decisions by the Vilnius County Court and Vilnius City District Court and returned the case
According to Milda Vainiūtė, the candidate for the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania and Mykolas Romeris university’s law professor, a consensus will be sought in society regarding the introduction of same-sex partnerships. „Regarding this issue, a common solution, a common consensus will be sought in society and only after [that] decisions will
On December 9th, 2016 on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights, Human Rights Monitoring Institute and National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL invited to the seminar-discussion “#LAISVA_LT: Overview of Human Rights in Lithuania“, held at the Embassy of Finland in Vilnius. As pointed out by non-governmental organizations that monitor
On December 5th, 2016 the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBTI Rights has addressed the European Commission regarding its “shockingly passive” position on clear discrimination against LGBT* people in Lithuania. On November 7th, 2016 the European Commission informed the National LGBT* rights organization LGL that it would take no action over a 2013 law that claims
On November 2nd, 2016 the Government of the Republic of Lithuania took part in the 26th session of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review, at which time it presented its report on the human rights situation in the country and responded to other member states’ questions and recommendations. In the 26th session, Lithuania received as
During a video interview for media outlet Alfa the leader of the ruling Lithuanian Peasant and Green Party Ramūnas Karbauskis insisted that his party „will not have a liberal view on same sex partnership law“. The politician further emphasized that „same sex partnerships will not be considered by the current Lithuanian Parliament“. Earlier this year
During an interview for a debate show “Teisė Žinoti”, broadcasted by Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) on November 27th, 2016 Agnė Širinskienė, MP and the newly elected Chairwoman for the Committee on Health Affairs of Seimas, equated homosexual relations to smoking and drug abuse, when listing examples of lifestyle choices detrimental to one‘s health.
On November 14th, 2016 56 members of Lithuanian Peasant and Green Party entered the Lithuanian Parliament. One of the newly elected politicians, MP Agnė Širinskienė, was appointed as a Chairwoman for Committee on Health Affairs of Seimas on November 22nd. A controversy was caused when her Ph.D. dissertation Healthcare issues complicated by AIDS and ethical-moral
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)‘s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) released its hate crime report for 2015, consisting of data from 41 participating countries. 113 non-governmental organizations contributed to the data about hate crimes in these 41 countries, including the National LGBT* rights organization LGL, reporting hate crimes in