“I represent traditional families, but I am not against partnership, as partnership is not same-sex marriage, partnership defines property relations,” the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament Seimas Loreta Graužinienė claimed on the 17th of June, 2015 when asked about her opinion on registered partnership for same-sex couples.
Speaking about cohabitation of persons of the same sex, the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament maintained that property-related issues can be settled in the framework of the current Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania.
“As to same-sex marriage, I am against that, I think our society is not yet ready and mature for this, it is indeed too early to talk about this. However, the concept of partnership covers a lot more. We have partners in the Civil Code and business, this is also partnership. Young people living together also form a partnership,” added Mrs. Graužinienė.
In the parliamentary speaker’s words, the Civil Code allows concluding various property contracts, adding that “the majority of the Seimas is in support of traditional family”.
The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania has proposed to the government to legalize partnerships between men and women only. Meanwhile a different bill allowing gender neutral partnership was registered by nine members of Parliament from the Social Democratic and Liberal Movement political parties on March 25th, 2015.
The Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, which came into force in 2001, provides for the possibility of registering a partnership as a form of cohabitation without marriage, but in reality the provision is not implementable, because there is still no law on partnerships.
