“I represent traditional families, but I am not against partnership, as partnership is not same-sex marriage, partnership defines property relations,” the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament Seimas Loreta Graužinienė claimed on the 17th of June, 2015 when asked about her opinion on registered partnership for same-sex couples. Speaking about cohabitation of persons of the same
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Final adjustments to a bill on registered partnership, drafted by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, are being made with the Catholic Church, and the document would shortly be submitted to the government for deliberation, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Algirdas Butkevičius admitted on the 16th of June, 2015. “We
The Synod of the United Protestant Church of Belgium has voted to decide that being gay should not be a barrier to being a minister in the church – which already performs blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. The largest Protestant Church in Belgium has voted to allow openly gay and lesbian people to become clergy.
Today is the Day. EuroPride finally touched the beautiful city of Riga and, from today till the 21st of June, will bring a wave of freshness, liveliness and queer love to the Latvian capital-city. The event makes history in the way that, this year, EuroPride takes place in a post-Soviet country for the first time.
The National LGBT* Organization LGL welcomes the decision of the European Commission to clarify that existent EU sex discrimination law should be interpreted as to protect all trans people against discrimination. So far, trans people are not directly mentioned in EU equality law, but the Court of Justice ruled in 1996 that the EU gender
On the 25th of May, 2015 the national LGBT* rights organization LGL received a notice from the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania stating that potential complaints about discrimination on the basis of gender identity received by the Office would be investigated under the Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men
The White House hosted on Friday a first-of-its-kind forum dedicated to combating domestic and international bias-motivated violence against LGBT people, the Washington Blade has learned. The closed-door event, which took place in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, allowed participants from around the world the opportunity to engage with administration officials on efforts by governments and
The vast majority of the reported victims of anti-LGBT murders in 2014 were people of color, according to a report the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs released this week. The NCAVP report notes that 80 percent of the 20 anti-LGBT murder victims who were reported to the organization last year were of color. Sixty percent
The recent sensation around the homophobic Facebook post written by the Lithuanian DJ “Ten Walls” (Marijus Adomaitis) has generated – as usual in these cases – a number of polarized reactions, but most of all has re-opened once again the Pandora’s vase of the admittedly-difficult relation that Lithuania has with homosexuality, especially in times like
Measure commits government ‘to promote the adoption of a civil unions law’. The Lower House of Italy’s parliament Wednesday (10 June) passed a motion on gay civil unions for the first time. Several similar measures have been rejected in the past. The motion, proposed by the ruling Democratic Party, commits the government ‘to promote the adoption
LGBT rights advocates around the world are celebrating Pride month with parades, marches and other events. Nearly two million people on June 7 attended Sao Paulo’s annual Pride parade that took place along the Brazilian city’s main thoroughfare. Petrobras, a state-run oil company, was among the sponsors of the annual event that remains one of
The recent homophobic rant by Lithuanian DJ and producer Marijus Adomaitis, known internationally as Ten Walls, and the following outcry will benefit Lithuania, as it will trigger an even more open discussion on homophobia and intolerance, claimed the President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė on the 10th of June, 2015. “I believe the