On September 17th, 2015, the autumn work agenda of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania was approved and contains a long list of initiatives seeking to limit LGBT* rights. Firstly, there is the infamous amendment to the Law on the Fundamentals of Protection of the Rights of Child of the Republic of Lithuania, prohibiting

Survey: 50 % of Lithuanians do not support equal rights for LGB people

On the 1st of October, 2015 the European Commission (EC) published the results of the latest Eurobarometer survey “Discrimination in the EU in 2015”. 27718 respondents from the European Union (EU) (including 1004 respondents from Lithuania) took part in the survey that has been conducted from May 30 to June 8, 2015. Lithuanian respondents indicated

On the 27th of August, 2015 the national LGBT* rights organization LGL received a decision by the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor‘s Office terminating a pre-trial investigation on hateful online comments inciting discrimination against homosexual persons. LGL applied to the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor‘s Office on the grounds of the article 170(2) of the Criminal Code of the

LGL Appeals before the Strasbourg Human Rights Court

On August 13th, 2015 the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL applied before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) under violations of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) regarding limitations of access to available effective remedies against homophobic hate speech in Lithuania. An official complaint states that the Lithuanian authorities have violated the Convention

Representative of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in Marijampolė county and a member of the Liberal Movement party Paulius Uleckas received an official warning from the Ethics Commission of the Liberal Movement party regarding his shocking remarks about LGBT* people. Mr. Uleckas was asked to apologize the LGBT* community for his homophobic statements.

Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania Juras Požėla appealed to the Chief Official of the Ethics Commission (COEC) to evaluate the remarks on LGBT* persons delivered by the representative of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in Marijampolė county Paulius Uleckas. Member of the Liberal Movement party Mr. Uleckas expressed his

Opinion: “Do not offend Lithuanians with your happiness”

Rescuing the drowning is the responsibility of the drowning themselves; there is no place for gays, lesbians, transsexuals and other similar people in Lithuanian society. Such were the dominant views expressed after the District Court of Klaipėda reached an official decision regarding the photo of two boys kissing that was posted on Facebook. However, it

Lithuanian president comments on homophobic “Facebook” rant by DJ Ten Walls

The recent homophobic rant by Lithuanian DJ and producer Marijus Adomaitis, known internationally as Ten Walls, and the following outcry will benefit Lithuania, as it will trigger an even more open discussion on homophobia and intolerance, claimed the President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė on the 10th of June, 2015. “I believe the

MEP A. Guoga: “Deliver Lithuania from Fear”

I’m happy about the success of Lithuania’s performance on the 21st of May, 2015. I returned from Strasbourg to Brussels in time to watch the duo’s Eurovision performance together with all of Lithuania. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to vote from Belgium, but I definitely did during the finals. However, the joy of making it into

Lithuanian Transgender Entertainer Experienced Transphobia in a Gym in Vilnius

Women exercising together with the Lithuanian transgender entertainer Agness Landau in a Vilnius gym did not wish to change their clothes in the same locker room. The gym, which has locker rooms for both women and men, refused to comment upon the situation to Lithuanian TV journalists. However, the spokesperson of a gym claimed that