Lithuanian Parliament still unready to reject anti-gay law

By a majority vote on Tuesday (19/04/2010), the Seimas approved the proposal of the Committee on Legal Affairs of the Seimas to return the amendments to the Administrative Code to legislator Gražulis for improvement. According to Stasys Šedbaras, the chairman of the committee, the draft law must not contain provisions which could be held to

Lithuanian Parliament to „improve“ the ban of „gay propaganda“

Today a majority of the members of the Committee on Legal Affairs of Lithuanian Parliament voted for the „improvement“ of  legislative amendment which seeks to establish harsh fines for the „propagation of homosexual relations in the public“. The author of the anti-gay law, MP Petras Grazulis now has unlimited time to come up with a

Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights

On 6th of December Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her speech at the United Nations in Geneva called on all countries to respect the civil rights of LGBT individuals. She talked about why countries need to recognize LGBT rights and treat them as regular human rights. “Being LGBT does not make you less human,”

(March 22, 2011) In a stunning development for the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, today, Colombia delivered a Joint Statement during General Debate that called on States to end violence, criminal sanctions and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender

MEPs welcome new gender change law in Portugal; concerned about Lithuania

BRUSSELS, 21 March 2011 — Members of the European Parliament have reacted to recent developments in national laws affecting transgender people. On 16 March 2011, the new Law establishing procedures for change of name and sex in the civil register came into force in Portugal. The new law does not require divorce, sterilisation, hormonal treatment

IGLYO statment

Lithuanian conservative parliamentarians led by the chairman of the Committee on Health Affairs registered a proposal to amend the Civil Code with a prohibition of gender reassignment surgery on March 9. The members of the Seimas who submitted this draft amendment to the Civil Code state that if the permission to undergo gender reassignment surgery is replaced with the prohibition of such surgeries, ‘the

Lithuania ignores European court decision and proposes to ban gender reassignment

Lithuanian conservative parliamentarians led by the chairman of the Committee on Health Affairs registered a proposal to amend the Civil Code with a prohibition of gender reassignment surgery yesterday. The members of the Seimas who submitted this draft amendment to the Civil Code state that if the permission to undergo gender reassignment surgery is replaced

LGBT NGO barred from round table discussion on human rights

by Em Šaras Wednesday, February 23, 2011 VILNUS, Lithuania: National, non-governmental organization Lithuanian Gay League (LGL) has been barred from participation in the round table discussion held by Lithuanian Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee regarding the Belarusian democratic opposition and human rights issues. After answering the invitation for NGOs to take part in the discussion to

Association LGL urges to tackle problems of homosexuals in Lithuania

On January 20, the association LGL (Lithuanian Gay League) appealed to the President of the Republic of Lithuania and the Prime Minister encouraging them to form an interdepartmental work group for the preparation of an action plan for implementation of the requirements laid down in the Council of Europe recommendations. The national advocacy association which

On January 20, Virginija Baltraitienė, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, participated in the “Daily Question’ programme on Ziniu radijas (News Radio) and commented on the recent resolution adopted by the European Parliament regarding discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in Lithuania. The politician did not agree with the concern expressed by the members of

Hungarian Presidency of the EU plans on ignoring homophobia

BRUSSELS, 25 January 2011 — Today the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, representing the 27 EU governments until July 2011, failed to outline any plan for action against homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in their 6-month presidency. Socialist and Liberal Members of the European Parliament asked the Hungarian

European Parliament calls on Lithuania to reject the proposed homophobic law

European Parliament debated the violation of freedom of expression and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in Lithuania on Tuesday and Wednesday. During the discussion members of EP asked for consideration of the proposed amendments to the Lithuanian Code of Administrative Offences introducing an offence of ‘promotion of homosexual relations’ punishable with a fine