From 6th to 9th July, 2017 the LGBT+ culture festival Baltic Pride will take place in Tallinn (Estonia). The theme of this year’s festival is “United.” In Estonian, it is not just an allusion to the partnership law. It also signifies being united in spirit and action, in growing and in aging together. The Baltic
News
They will also apologize for their past treatment of gay people. Ministers in the Church of Scotland could conduct same-sex marriages soon. The Kirk’s general assembly is meeting in Edinburgh at the moment. They voted in favor of the Legal Questions Committee researching whether there is a way to legally protect Ministers or Deacons who
On 30th May, 2017 the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania voted for the proposal (XIIIP-750) to amend the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania to regulate cohabitation by way of cohabitation agreement. The authors of the amendment to the Civil Code propose a term “agreement for cohabitation” that would allow two or more
ILGA-Europe welcome Belgium’s decision to put an end to the sterilisation requirements and the mental health diagnosis previously required in order to have access to legal gender recognition. Today’s vote in parliament means that Belgium will have a new law governing the legal gender recognition process. The fact that the new procedure is largely based
On May 24th, 2017 the working group on legal gender recognition of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania concluded its first official meeting. The working group includes Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, the Policy Coordinator (Human Rights) of the National LGBT* Rights Organization LGL. The working group is preparing a draft bill with the
Court says ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional; unless law is amended within two years, marriage equality becomes legal. Taiwan is set to be the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.A top court in the country today ruled that the current law, banning same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional. Marriage equality can become law in two years
By Izabelė Švaraitė In Soviet times, gay people were persecuted, jailed and sent to psychiatric hospitals. Unfortunately, researchers in former USSR states have little to say about this part of history, and while society is gaining freedom, it remains extremely difficult to carry out such studies in Belarus. Uladzimir Valodzin, author of the study “Queer
Each year 17th of May is commemorated as an International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT) in order to raise awareness of the LGBT* issues worldwide. This year the occasion inspired the members of the European Parliament to take action and issue a resolution regarding the gross violation of human rights in Chechnya, where
Lebanon’s first-ever Pride celebration is underway in Beirut, despite national laws that deem homosexual acts a crime and security threats at the start of the festivities. Organizers planned to kick off Pride with an event run by Pride Lebanon, but they received threats from the Association of Muslim Scholars in Lebanon, a Salafist group. ‘On Saturday
Ieva Ruzgytė, member of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL participated in an international LGBT* forum, held on 14th-19th May, 2017 in Salzburg (Austria). LGL member shares her experience regarding the fifth international LGBT* forum in Salzburg, held to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). By participating in the forum, LGL member
Liberal MEPs want to re-open an already adopted European Parliament position on audiovisual services reform, saying that it justifies discrimination of lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual (LGBT) people. The overhaul is an update of EU-wide rules on media services and TV advertising. The problem, according to the liberals, is that the reform sets out to
Since the discussions at the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania regarding the possibility of legislating same-sex partnerships in Lithuania has been renewed, the Lithuanian state leaders were asked whether they would support such move. The comments by the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament and the Prime Minister