On March 23rd, 2017 the Government of the Republic of Lithuania placed two Lithuanian ministries, i.e. the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice, under obligation to prepare legal acts that would enable gender reassignment procedure in Lithuania. However, developments regarding gender reassignment procedure in Lithuania are slow. Aurelijus Veryga, the Minister of Health
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On 24 March 2017, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) issued a report entirely dedicated to the situation of LGBTI asylum seekers. ILGA-Europe welcome this report, which clearly shows that Member States need to step up their efforts to make sure that EU standards are respected and applied correctly with regard to LGBTI asylum
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is set to sign legislation that would enable taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to deny placement to LGBT families out of religious objections. The legislation, known as House Bill 24, is titled the “Child Placing Agency Inclusion Act,” but instead of encouraging child placement would permit agencies to deny placement of children into
Many trans people in Vietnam buy their hormones illegally from Thailand and self-medicate, but they’re hoping the government will change its laws soon. Many of Vietnam’s trans community are turning to the black market to buy hormone medication. Hormone replacement therapy and gender reassignment surgery are not legal in Vietnam. Many trans people have resorted to
The Finnish Ministry of Justice has launched a project called Rainbow Rights Promoting LGBTI Equality in Europe, which aims to support the implementation of the legislation on non-discrimination. The project seeks to promote non-discrimination at local level both in Finland and in other EU Member States. In addition to the general aim of promoting non-discrimination,
Far-right French politician Marine Le Pen, who has pledged to abolish same-sex marriage, to is tipped to do well in the first round of the country’s Presidential election this week. France is set to go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new President to replace outgoing Socialist François Hollande. From the crowded field
By Izabelė Švaraitė Although LGBT+ people in Lithuania are in no enviable situation, the community is supported by law, visibility initiatives continue to increase, and more and more people, especially youth, are choosing to come out and openly discuss their experiences. But how are our neighbors in Belarus? Though we may hear about Alexander Lukashenko,
Last week, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that requiring trans people to undergo sterilisation in order to have their gender recognised, violates human rights. In the case A.P. and Others v. France, three transgender people attempted to change the entries on their sex and forenames on their birth certificates, and were refused so
On 14th of April, representatives of the National LGBT* rights organization LGL visited The Department of Youth Affairs under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (JRD). Durint the meeting with deputy director Juozas Meldžiukas and head of youth policy development and program implementation division Valda Karnickaitė wes presented new reasearch about LGBT* youth issues.
Hundreds of LGBT activists gathered outside the Russian Embassy in London yesterday to protest the detention of gay men in ‘concentration camps’ in Chechnya. They carried placards saying “LGBT+ rights are human rights,”Queer lives matter, close the camps” and a tuba demanding that Prime Minister Theresa May speak out against concentration camps. Lord Waheed Alli,
The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday, April 6th, 2017 ruled the forced sterilization of transgender people who are seeking legal recognition of their gender identity violates their human rights. The court, which is in the French city of Strasbourg, issued the ruling in three separate cases that trans people filed against France. Transgender
A married couple was attacked by a group of young men while holding hands at night in the city of Arnhem. Straight Dutch men have launched a campaign to hold hands in solidarity. From politicians to police to priests, heterosexual men from the Netherlands have been showing their opposition to anti-LGBT violence by holding hands