On 10th December, 2015 the National LGBT* rights organization LGL addressed the members of the Lithuanian Parliament regarding the effective implementation of the human rights standards for transgender individuals. In its formal address on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day LGL seeks to draw the attention of the lawmakers that the absence of

The new judgement by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on legal recognition of same-sex relationships is significant for Lithuania, says a lawyer of the Vilnius-based Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI). Natalija Bitiukova, i.e the deputy director of HRMI, emphasized the significance of the court’s ruling handed down on July 21st, 2015, which indicated

Lithuanian Parliament Speaker ‘Not Ready’ for Same-Sex Partnerships

The Lithuanian society is not ready for same-sex partnerships, Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Loreta Graužinienė claims. “Our society is not ready for such an action [legislating on same-sex partnership],” she told the Žinių Radijas news radio on July 22nd, 2015. In her words, such decisions could be made after a new and more tolerant

Transgender Europe launches today its Trans Rights Europe Map 2015. The update reveals a severe lack of protection and recognition for trans people throughout Europe, with only 37 states recognizing a trans person’s gender identity. 23 states require for it a proof of sterilization. Only two countries, Malta and Denmark, do not request a mental

On the 20th January, 2015, the Parliament of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) constitutionally defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Furthermore, it created a constitutional hurdle to possible future legislation on same-sex civil unions. The amendment defines that “[m]arriage shall be a life union solely of one woman and

This week LGL has submitted a report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights regarding the article 12 on the right to protection of health. In the report LGL has commented on the current situation in Lithuania regarding access by transgender persons to gender reassignment treatment. In the report

Greece ordered to open civil unions to same-sex couples

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Greece to allow same-sex couples to enter into the same civil unions it allows for same-sex couples. Greece has had opposite-sex civil unions since 2008 for heterosexuals who do not wish to marry and the European court in Strasbourg found that it was discriminatory for Greece to