The chair of the Seimas group of Order and Justice Party in Lithuania Petras Gražulis proposed to forbid adoption for couples of the same sex, The Baltic Course reports, with reference to the news agency ELTA. MP Gražulis registered a draft amendment to the Children’s Rights Protection Law. According to the draft law, “it is forbidden for
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On the 27th of January 2014, the Decriminalisation of Homosexuality Bill passed the Parliament of the northern part of Cyprus. The northern part of Cyprus was the last territory in Europe where homosexuality was still a crime. With the adoption of the bill, Articles 171 and 173 of the Criminal Code, foreseeing in five years’ imprisonment
On January 24th it was a great pleasure to welcome the representatives of the LGBT network of the Norwegian Social Democrats at the LGL office in Vilnius. As a role model for LGBT rights in many European countries, Norway was following the current events in Lithuania, and therefore incited to pay a visit. “We are
The national LGBT rights organization (LGL) issued the new publication “United Nations Organization and situation of LGBT persons in Lithuania: opportunities provided by international human rights mechanisms”. The purpose of this publication is to introduce the mechanisms of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and of periodic reviews under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The National LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) rights organization LGL encouraged the Social Democrats fraction of the Parliament to disapprove the legal amendments that were considered on January 21st. The legal amendment and it’s intention do not differ from the human rights impairing so called “homosexuality propaganda” restrictions that are valid in Russia. This
On January 15th the Board of Parliament signed the decision to send the delegation on a business trip to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) – one of the continent’s leading organizations for defending human rights in 47 countries. The members of the delegation will be the chair of the Lithuanian parliament
On January 21 the Seimas considered MP Gražulis’ proposal to introduce harsh fines for the „denigration of family values“ during the public events such as gay prides. 46 MPs voted in favour of amendments to the Code of Administrative Violations of Law, 10 voted against and 22 abstained. Third final reading and voting at the
Canada has cancelled a scheduled state visit following Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to approve a draconian anti-gay bill. The decision to cancel President Jonathan’s state visit to Canada was communicated through the Nigeria High Commissioner to the Supervising Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri who in turn passed on the message to the
Pavel Lebedev, of Voronezh, which is 560 miles north of Sochi, unfurled the rainbow flag as the torch passed through his hometown. The Sochi Winter Olympics will begin on 7 February and have already caused an international outcry as Russian President Vladimir Putin in June signed a bill into law banning the “promotion of non-traditional
In a resolution adopted yesterday, the European Parliament strongly condemned recent moves to criminalise LGBTI people in Uganda, Nigeria and India. Parliament also called on Russia to repeal its law prohibiting the propaganda of ‘non-traditional sexual relations’. Earlier this month, Nigeria’s President signed the ‘Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill’, punishing people in a same-sex relationship with
As the Equal Opportunities Committee unanimouly passes the spousal veto amendment, Scottish Transgender Alliance’s Nathan Gale reflects on why this is a victory for all LGBTI people. In a major step forward for trans equality in Scotland, the Scottish Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee today passed an amendment to the equal marriage bill removing the spousal
On Sunday, 12th of January, the news of the suicide of Šarūnas from Biržai district has appeared in the media. According to the comments of his acquaintances, the presumable reason of Šarūnas suicide was his sexual orientation. The boy felt emotional pressure in the family and did not have a close person to whom he