In June, 2017 the National LGBT* rights organization LGL launched a national school environment survey for LGBT* students. In less than a month, the survey has been completed by 1300 Lithuanian students, 500 of whom identify as LGBT* students. The first responses by LGBT* students indicate that they do not feel safe at school. According
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Experts say gender-neutral bathrooms in schools have lower levels of bullying. The Scottish Government have planned to introduce gender-neutral bathrooms in schools. Outlined in the guidance setting out the minimum standards for school buildings, the lavatories will be a requisite to protect trans and non-binary students. The Consultation Document on Updating the School Premises said
Already five months have passed since I arrived in Lithuania, time just flies by. So the time for my mid term has come. This time instead of 19 people and 4 days of training, we were just eight volunteers so we did a shorter training in 3 days, but it was still amazing. We were
The Baltic Pride 2017 this year took place in the beautiful Estonian capital of Tallinn. I was waiting to attend this event, and I decided to reach Tallinn by hitchhiking with a friend of mine from Vilnius, and be hosted by local people through Couchsurfing, because we thought it was the better way to fully
Prime Minister Theresa May has expressed her personal support for equal marriage in Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister penned an op-ed for PinkNews today to mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. The Conservative leader used the piece to address the ongoing ban on same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, where progress has been
Hundreds of people from across Honduras on Saturday participated in a Pride parade that took place in one of the world’s most dangerous cities. Kendra Stefani Jordany, a transgender woman who is running for the Central American Parliament, is among the roughly 400 people who took part in the march in the Honduran city of
Tens of thousands of people turned out for Pride in Seoul, South Korea on July 15. An estimated 85,000 people joined in the celebrations which took place in the capital city, making it the biggest Pride parade to be held in the city yet. Despite the rain, people from the LGBT community joined in the
53 members of the US Congress have written to Donald Trump, pleading with him to speak out against the persecution of gay men in Chechnya. The federal representatives have called on the President to condemn the ongoing kidnappings, torture and killings of gay men which have plagued the region since April. Despite repeated urgings, Trump
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.
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 June 16th, 2017 the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) informed the Lithuanian Government that it will consider a petition by Pijus Beizaras and Mangirdas Levickas regarding refusal by the national authorities to investigate into instances of homophobic hate speech online. Applicants, who are represented by the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL, claim that