Gay rights the European Unn: The long journey out of the closet for Lhuania’s gay muny | Internatnal | EL PAÍS English

Contents:

• GAY VILNI
• GAY LIFE LHUANIA
• THE LONG JOURNEY OUT OF THE CLOSET FOR LHUANIA’S GAY MUNY
• LHUANIA'S 'GAY PROPAGANDA' LAW LOOMS OVER FIGHT FOR SAME-SEX UNNS
• GAY LIFE LHUANIA 2017
• LHUANIA SET TO LEGALISE GAY CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS NEXT YEAR, SAYS LGBT+ LAWMAKER

GAY VILNI

> Gay Lhuania Gay VilniLhuania's pal cy and a European Capal of Culture, Vilni is a UNESCO World Herage Se wh betiful archecture and pact gay scene.

Gay Marriage⚭✖ UnregnizedChangg Genr✔ Legal, surgery not requiredNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedEmployment Discrimatn✔ Sexual orientatn and genr intyHog Discrimatn✔ Sexual orientatn and genr intyMilary✖ Lbians, gays, bisexuals permted, transgenr people bannedConversn Therapy✖ Not banned. Ambiguo “Gay propaganda” is -facto banned sce 2009 but the law has not been enforced for a long as punishmentLGBTQ+ ntent is rtricted for mors Lhuania sce 2009.

Lbians, gays, bisexuals permted, transgenr people banned Only 26 untri allow transgenr ary service, Lhuania is not one of themBlood donatns by MSMs Lhuania? Here is one of those former Soviet bloc untri where morn “Gay Life Lhuania” is nflict wh old tradns as the untry emerg om the reprsive mentaly that stigmatized and crimalized homosexualy. A story about gay Lhuanian life is a paful one wh twists and turns of anti-gay parliament legislators agast nstutnal urt judg and urageo gay activists the streets.

GAY LIFE LHUANIA

The ntroversy about gay rights and discrimatn has rulted a legislative ‘war’ between Lhuanian prejudicial anti-gay statut and the European Unn’s standards of tolerance and equaly.

Sce the passg of a homophobic law July 2009 that was tend to protect mors om the negative effects of public rmatn–cludg so-lled “advertisg of homosexual, bisexual and polygamo relatns”–crics and fenrs have stumbled over then difficult issue of public homosexualy Lhuania. The article pertag to the ban on homosexual advertisg, orr, supposedly, to protect mors, will be replaced by a ban on all rmatn which would promise sexual tegry, particularly that of young children. Acrdg to a survey by soclogists specializg genr issu, 38 percent of Lhuanians would distance themselv om a iend who revealed his or her homosexualy to them.

THE LONG JOURNEY OUT OF THE CLOSET FOR LHUANIA’S GAY MUNY

When puti adopt homo-phobic laws, there are no assuranc that the groups of hate-mongers won’t terpret this as a ll to act”, he hammers out, alarmed at the cisns beg ma by legislators.

“The visible cizens”, as they are termed by the soclogists who thored a large-sle survey on homophobia Lhuania, are subject to several forms of discrimatn, most notably the workplace. He claims to have recently been a victim of discrimatn when he requted a day off to participate the ILGA Conference of the European Associatn of Homosexuals, held Vilni 2007, and thereby revealed his sexual orientatn. On several ocsns, the municipali of the larger Lhuanian ci have halted attempts ma by the Lhuanian gay associatn to rm the public about homosexualy.

LHUANIA'S 'GAY PROPAGANDA' LAW LOOMS OVER FIGHT FOR SAME-SEX UNNS

In Knas, Lhuania’s send largt cy, was forbidn to affix large ads to the trolleyb wh the followg slogans: “A lbian n be a teacher”, and “A policeman n be gay”. Given the suatn, as Vladimir Simonko remarks, many young homosexual Lhuanians “seek out plac where they are safe to exprs themselv whout discrimatn and where they n be themselv, whout hidg nor lyg, and where they n image a future”.

GAY LIFE LHUANIA 2017

The headl the Lhuanian media the past five years have prented the nflict between gays and straights dramatic tail, sometim biased agast and sometim tolerant.

Soho gay club ( Vilni) after London’s venu feels like a Soviet Unn’s basement club for old pervs to be hont Men’s Factory is not a gay club anymore. Aramantas wrote this reactn to the problems of Lhuania and pared s relig fluence to other Catholic untri: “Gay rights activists and anizers are vilified Catholic Vilni; meanwhile, largely Catholic Mexi has legalized same sex marriage and Brazilian megapolis San Paolo hosted the world’s largt pri event wh over three ln participants early June.

Another ment, om Dunn, offers a more balanced view his ments: “I am a gay UK man and have vised LT many tim, and am aware that Lhuania is a homophobic untry. Many Lhuanians who have worked the UK, where LGBT people are more accepted, have worked wh gays, noticed they are no different to straights, and lost their homophobic opns. Here is another young man, Petras, om Lhuania who has had a very different experience of beg gay, “well, I haven’t enuntered any homophobic act agast me my life.

LHUANIA SET TO LEGALISE GAY CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS NEXT YEAR, SAYS LGBT+ LAWMAKER

And fally, Jonas had this to say: “I saw Gay Pri 2010 Vilni and was very strange; a small, shy monstratn wh mostly foreign people, cludg Polish supporters, lookg like a prott of workers at a supermarket. Male and female same-genr sexual activy have been legal Lhuania sce 1993, however gay-marriage and civil same-sex partnership are not officially regnized. Durg that mpaign members of Lhuanian Parliament were asked to state their opns regardg the harsh posn of Lhuanian Catholic church hierarchy that claims “homosexualy is a perversn”.

Through tn, support, and reprentatn of the LGBT muny, LGL promot an clive social environment for gay men, lbian women, bisexual and transgenr persons. Lhuanian Gay League is a natnal nonprof, nonernmental anizatn ung homosexual, bisexual, and transgenr persons, a member of the Internatnal Lbian and Gay Associatn (ILGA) sce 1994. It has published a Lhuanian versn of the booklet ‘Our Dghters and Sons’ origally posed the Uned Stat by PFLAG–Parents and Friends of Lbians and Gays.