“Utopia, a place doesn’t exist” Festival opens in Minsk

Minsk, January 26th opening of the festival-visibility campaign “Утопія, Месца якога няма” (Eng. “Utopia, a place that doesn’t exist”). A tow week festival organized by DOTYk, Journalist for Tolerance and a group of collaborators features art exhibition, workshops, lectures, performances all dedicated to discuss equality, living in modern Belarus and social vulnerabilities. Utopia or anti-utopia?

On September 1st, 2017, Lithuanian schools adopted a new General Program for Health, Sexual Education and Family Planning, which, among other things, prevents the provision of physically or psychologically harmful, incorrect, biased or one-sided information, as well as that which encourages dissatisfaction with one’s body, appearance or sexual orientation, or discourages acceptance of these traits.

EVS Volunteer João: My first impressions in Vilnius

I landed in Vilnius in the 31st of December 2017, just in time for the New Year’s Eve. It felt like a very literal representation of the expression – new year, new life. For the last few months, I have been living in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. The sun and the beach were a

IT Companies Remove up to 99% of Reported Homophobic Hate Speech in Lithuania

The third evaluation of the European Commission’s Code of Conduct on countering illegal online hate speech carried out by NGOs and public bodies shows that IT companies remove on average 70% of illegal hate speech notified to them across Europe. In the course of the current monitoring exercise, which took place in November-December, 2017, the

Nominations Open for Most Notable Human Rights Initiatives of 2017

From January 15th, the public is invited to submit candidates for the National Equality and Diversity Awards. Each year, this ceremony honors people, organizations, and initiatives deserving recognition for their work in the field of human rights in Lithuania. The Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson Agneta Skardžiuvienė believes that the awards ceremony, which has already become a

Kicking off 2018!

We official kicked off the year at LGL, with our first community event – Volunteers Welcome Party + Queer Agenda 2018! With a good turnout, a nice age range and people from different countries, the event started by having everyone present themselves and getting to know each other. Our EVS volunteers followed, with a more

Belarusian activist: Russian repression is good for Lukashenko

Originally published on manoteises.lt Winter is an especially busy time for human rights activists, with lots of significant days, events and news to be presented to decision makers. This isn’t always easy in Lithuania, but in Belarus, it’s even more difficult, especially in the context of the worsening situation to the East. As Barys Zvoskau

EVS Volunteer Arnold: My first impressions in Vilnius

It has already been five weeks since my arrival in Vilnius. In the meantime, I acclimatised to the seemingly unwelcoming Lithuanian atmosphere and I am gradually getting used to the myriad of unsmiling and unfriendly faces in the streets and shops. I would even say I feel comfortable calling the piece of socialist architecture where

Safety at School for Every Student: Possibility, or Utopia?

In Summer 2017, the National LGBT* rights organization LGL carried out an anonymous survey that gathered responses from 580 LGBT* high school students between the ages of 14 and 18. In their survey responses, the students revealed what is taught in Lithuanian schools and what LGBT* adolescents still in the process of discovering their sexual

In James Martin’s 2017 book Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community can enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity in 2017, the Jesuit priest shares his memories of the terrorist attack that took place in a gay club in Orlando, Florida in 2016, killing 49 people. As millions

Christmas at the LGBT community centre

This Wednesday‘s evening, at the LGBT community centre, Santa‘s Elves Workshop took place. Just by getting in, I was pleasantly surprised by Michael Bublé’s Christmas album and the surrounding smell of delicious cookies. To top it off, a myriad of happy faces welcomed me in, and wonderful Christmas decorations helped set up the mood. With

Minsk replaced its pride parade with a festival – and it worked

Judging from the 2016 Baltic Pride parade in Vilnius, Lithuania has finally became a country where the LGBT* community no longer has to jump through legal hoops at the last minute when they want to throw a party. Unfortunately, neighbouring Belarus doesn’t have as much to celebrate – but this doesn’t mean that the country’s