OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) released hate crime data for 2013. Thirty-six participating States submitted information, along with 109 NGOs covering incidents in 45 countries, including Lithuania. The national LGBT* rights organization LGL notified ODIHR about two physical assaults resulting in serious injuries, including the gang-rape of a gay man, a
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The Union of Lithuanian Psychologists has issued a statement, criticizing a ban on airing a social video ad about LGBT* rights on television. Broadcasters have refused to air the video, saying it would violate a controversial minors protection law, but psychologists claim censorship of this kind is what does harm to children rather than messages
The Minister of Justice of Lithuania Juozas Bernatonis (Social Democratic Party) claimed that Lithuania will not follow the example of neighboring Estonia. According to Mr Bernatonis, civil partnership will not be legalized in Lithuania as long as he will be in charge of the Ministry of Justice. “I would say that this is an extremely
The United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) has announced a plan to “fast track” approach to tackling the AIDS epidemic with a view to ending it by 2030. The latest report from UNAIDS titled ‘Fast-Track: ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030′, outlines a plan to avert 28 million new HIV infections and 21 million
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach is recommending that sexual orientation become one of the protected classes listed in the non-discrimination policy of the Olympic Charter. The IOC underwent heavy criticism for many months leading up to the Sochi Olympics this year because they were held in Russia, a country that has an anti-gay propaganda
The conference “Fundamental rights, non-discrimination and the protection of vulnerable groups, including LGBTI’’ is being organised by Members of the Pre-Accession Countries’ Parliaments and the European Parliament in cooperation with the Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Commission and will be held in Albanian capital Tirana on 20-21 November. The
On November 13th, 2014 Mexico City lawmakers approved a bill that would allow transgender people to legally change their gender without a court order. Members of Legislative Assembly of the Federal District, in which Mexico City is located, approved the measure by a 42-0 vote margin. Six lawmakers abstained from the vote on the measure
The national LGBT* rights organization LGL initiated a meeting with the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament Seimas and the leader of the Lithuanian Labor Party Loreta Graužinienė on September and November this year. Both times were unsuccessful. The Office of the Lithuanian Speaker of the Parliament claims that Ms. Graužinienė has no time for a
The Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament Seimas and the leader of the Lithuanian Labor Party Loreta Graužinienė declared that Latvia’s foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics should have disclosed his sexual orientation prior to the assignment to the post. “But I think that the Minister should have done it prior to the appointment to the post rather than
The Constitutional Court of Slovakia has decided that several questions that could limit the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT*) persons will be opened to a public vote, a move which advocates say is unconstitutional. It follows a petition initiated by the Alliance for Family, a conservative national organisation that collected more than the 350,000 signatures required
The Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed earlier this year, but was struck down by the country’s Constitutional Court in August, who found that Parliamentary procedures had been abused to pass it illegally. However, politicians in the country have refused to accept defeat on the legislation, and have been clamouring to put the homophobic law back into place. Human
In a landmark ruling, Malaysia’s Putrajaya Court of Appeal ruled on Friday (Nov. 7) that it is unconstitutional for the state of Negeri Sembilan to criminalize transgender individuals for “cross dressing,” reports the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Citing articles of the Constitution of Malaysia that protect fundamental liberties, including equality, freedom