Issuu

Lithuanian Gay League - November 2015

Don’t stare at us like that. Look us with love, respect and kindness. Live. Let live.

Makeup, clothing and names: gender neutral stuff. Jesus

One day God created also rainbows.

LGBT * History in Lithuania

LGBT* people can be tracked back more than 14 000 years ago, so basically homosexuals existed already in the stone age

Lithuanian LGBT* history is, officially, much shorter -at least the written evidence of it- but probably there were also queer people in Lithuania in the middle ages , as everywhere else in the world.

In soviet times , male homosexuality was strictly forbidden,

Russia got homosexuality off from the list of mental disorders just in 1999.

After Lithuania became independent in 1990, it took it “only” three more years to legalize homosexuality. In the same year -1993, LGL was established and it is by now the only Lithuanian organization dealing exclusively with LGBT* rights.

The next big step towards a LGBT * friendly law was taken in 2005: Discrimination based on the sexual orientation in the areas of employment, education and access to goods and services is now banned. And LGBT * people can even serve in the military, now All thanks to the Europe, as this law was realized to fulfill the EU anti-discrimination rules.

But only a few years later, the Seimas introduced a law, that is a huge step back: in June 2009 the Parliament decided that it's now illegal to educate minors about “non-traditional sexual orientation” with the goal of not pushing kids into homosexuality.

Same sex marriage or unions are not actually recognized by the Lithuanian law because article 38 of the Lithuanian Constitution states “Marriage shall be concluded upon the free mutual consent of a man and a woman”.

Moreover the situation of trans* people is difficult in Lithuania, because there is no opportunity to do a gender reassignment surgery in Lithuania, even though the law allows any non -married person to change gender.

In 2010 the first Baltic Pride took place in Vilnius with about 300 pride LGBT* and supporter people, but there were between 2000 and 3000 demonstrating against the Baltic pride.

Three years later, in 2013, approximately 500 people participated surrounded by over 1000 people in Gedimino avenue. Even though most of the surrounding people were protesters, the Baltic Pride 2013 was mostly peaceful and “only” 28 people were arrested for causing public disorder.

The next Baltic Pride in Vilnius will be in June 2016 and will pass through Gedimino avenue and finish in Bernardiu Garden, but hopefully for sure this time there will be more pride people than protesters ,

and in any diversity, tones of humanity let the air thrill. the movement of colours, the hovering thoughts, the smell of the spices enchant the minds and let people smile.