Klaipėda district mayor Bronius Markauskas says that he himself will not support the initiative of the Lithuanian Family Movement to adopt a declaration “On stopping genderism propaganda and LGBTQ+ ideology in the municipality” and will urge his colleagues not to support it as well, BNS reports. Lithuanian Family Movement  (Lietuvos šeimų sąjūdis) is a non-governmental organization closely allied

LGBTI in Lithuania: Equality Priorities Remain in a Political Periphery

Unprecedented success of  Baltic Pride 2019 festival in Vilnius which brought together around 10 000 LGBTI people and their allies marked the beginning of certain positive changes towards LGBTI acceptance and equality.  However, even after LGBTI-friendly Liberal political powers secured their place in the ruling coalition in 2020, the pace of change leaves a lot to

LGL Submitted Alternative Report to the UN Human Rights Committee

In 2018 United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee made recommendations CCPR/C/LTU/CO/4 to Lithuania to improve the situation of LGBTI people. Along with recommendations made to Belize, Bulgaria, Honduras, Mongolia and Sudan, these recommendations were considered by the Committee as urgent.  In accordance to the official deadline and procedure, national LGBT rights organization LGL submitted an alternative report on

On April 1, 2001, just a few seconds after midnight, Mayor of Amsterdam was the first registrar in the world to marry a gay couple. That night four same-sex couples tied the knot, followed by another 382 who married in the same month. Currently sixteen European countries fully recognize same-sex marriages, while thirteen recognize a

Apparently opinions were bound to polarize after LRT, the national broadcaster of Lithuania, published a social documentary portraying a parenthood journey of a married gay men couple from United Kingdom at its internet portal lrt.lt Although plenty of people praised such a rare instance of the diversity representation, several, likely right-wing affiliated activists appealed to

LGL Continues Successful Cooperation with the Royal Norwegian Embassy

On 3rd October, 2019, the Ambassador of the Royal Norwegian Embassy, H.E. Mr. Karsten Klepsvik was awarded with a special symbol of gratitude for supporting the monumental Baltic Pride 2019 festival at the National LGBT Rights Organization LGL. During the warm meeting, representatives of the Embassy and LGL recalled the most impressive moments of the

Lithuanian Draft Law of Equal Treatment: Another Missed Opportunity?

This September Lithuanian Parliament began to review a new legislative proposal on Lithuanian Law of Equal Treatment amendments, initiated by the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson. While the draft law introduces quite a few well-needed changes, such as including the definition of associative discrimination, it does, however, ignore the burning questions of transgender individuals,

Eurobarometer reveals a lack of LGBTI acceptance in the Baltics

According to Eurobarometer on Discrimination 2019, 30% Lithuanians are in favor of same-sex marriages to be allowed throughout the Europe, while in neighboring Latvia even less, 24% respondents support the same notion. Numbers concerning this question are significantly higher in Estonia and even Catholic-majority Poland, 41% and 45% respondents respectively agree that same sex marriages should be

Nazis considered homosexuality a disease, therefore homosexuals were subjected systemic persecution, arrest and imprisonment at concentrations camps. Many of the 5000 to 10000 imprisoned homosexuals fell victims of various dehumanizing pseudo-medical experiments and, as they were considered the “lowest caste”, experienced the harshest forms of torture. However, many representatives of the Lithuanian state institutions in

Lithuanian President will Consult with the Church on LGBT issues

On 9th September, 2019 in an interview the Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda underlined the “need to take the opinion of the Catholic Church into account regarding LGBT issues”. “Position of the Church on LGBT matters was, is and will be important to me. Will it be the only one? No. However the is no doubt