“#LGBTs_Matter: Raising Awareness and Encouraging Reporting on Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity in Lithuania” 2016 03 – 2017 08

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cropped-hope-will-never-be-silentThe project is implemented by the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL and the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson in Lithuania. The synergy of the partnership between the core civil society organization working exclusively in the field of LGBT* human rights and the equality body in charge of implementing the national policies on equal opportunities seeks to contribute to the effective implementation of human rights standards for LGBT* people in the country.

The project and its partnerships seek to achieve four main objectives through the implementation of the project activities.

  • to raise awareness by the members of the local LGBT* community about their rights under the national law through the community meetings with the representatives from the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson and the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL;
  • to encourage the member of the local LGBT* community to report the instances of violation of their rights (i.e. the alleged instances of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity and experienced or witnessed instances of hate crimes or hate motivated incidents) to the relevant public authorities through the targeted awareness raising measures;
  • to further accelerate the public debate on the topic of legal recognition of same-sex relationships through organizing an international human rights conference within the framework of the Baltic Pride 2016;
  • to advocate for the adoption of legislation on quick, accessible and transparent gender reassignment procedure through engagement with the international human rights protection mechanisms and developing alternative proposals on the national level.

The project objectives will be implemented through the four main groups of activities (i.e. workstreams):

  • Meetings by the representatives of the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson and the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL with the members of the local LGBT* community;
  • Awareness raising campaign, including billboards in the three biggest cities and an innovative mobile application for reporting instances of hate crimes;
  • Organizing an international human rights conference on LGBT* human rights (i.e. legal recognition of same-sex relationships) within the framework of the Baltic Pride 2016;
  • Engaging with the international human rights protection mechanisms and developing alternative proposals on the national level regarding quick, accessible and transparent gender reassignment procedure.

In relation to the above described objectives, the following changes in the specific behavior of the people within the project target groups are expected.

  • the members of the local LGBT* community will inform the relevant public authorities regarding alleged violations of their human rights more vigorously;
  • the members of the general public will be less hostile towards the members of the local LGBT* community (e.g. decrease in numbers of hate speech and hate crimes);
  • the stakeholders involved in the public discourse on legal recognition of same-sex relationship will be developing more respectful, nuanced and constructive public debate;
  • the national decision and policy makers will be more responsive to the demands of establishing the procedure of gender reassignment in accordance to the highest attainable human rights standards.

button_evz_engl_grossThe project is supported by the German foundation “Erinnerung. Verantwortung and Zukunft”, which supports activities that tackle contemporary discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. For more information, please consult http://www.stiftung-evz.de/eng.