On March 8^th, 2016 the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL launched a crowdfunding campaign with the view of collecting financial donations for the upcoming Baltic Pride 2016 festival in Vilnius on June 13^th – 19^th, 2016. The launch of the campaign also includes the official presentation of the Baltic Pride 2016 promotional video and the Baltic Pride 2016 programme. “WE ARE PEOPLE, NOT PROPAGANDA”, i.e. the official slogan, selected by the members of our LGBT* community, indicates the most pressing challenges that we are experiencing under the Lithuanian national circumstances.

This year the Baltic Pride festival will be used as a platform for articulating two political demands: (a) to challenge the discriminatory provisions of the Law on Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effects of Public Information (i.e. ‘anti-gay propaganda’ law) and (b) to foster discussion on legal recognition of same-sex relationships within the local LGBT* community and the general public. In order to speak about these issues more comprehensively, we are going to organize multiple public events during the Baltic Pride 2016 week, including Pride Voices (i.e. theatrical event for sharing personal stories by famous LGBT* people and our allies), International Human Rights Conference, March for Equality on Gediminas Avenue and the Urban Pride Park concert.

On behalf of the organizers of the Baltic Pride 2016, we would like to thank the diplomatic representations residing in Lithuania for their continuous moral and financial support for organizing this large-scale event. Without your contributions, we would not be able to execute our ambitious programme. We organize the crowd funding campaign in order to promote the fundraising culture among our community members and to make the organization of the future Prides more sustainable and less dependent on external funding.

In order to support our fundraising efforts, we would kindly ask you to share our FaceBook post on the launch of the campaign on your social media profiles. Your support and dissemination is crucial at this point. In order to do this, please follow the >>> LINK <<< and click the “SHARE” button.

We say it loudly and proudly – “WE ARE PEOPLE, NOT PROPAGANDA”. Thank you for your encouragement and support. We are hoping to see you in the Baltic Pride events on June 13^th – 19^th.