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

Contents:

• THE LONG JOURNEY OUT OF THE CLOSET FOR LHUANIA’S GAY MUNY
• LBIAN UPLE W IVF ‘GAY TAX’ BATTLE
• JAGUARS STRENGTH ACH IS FIRST MALE ACH A MAJOR US-BASED PRO LEAGUE TO E OUT AS GAY
• LHUANIA SET TO LEGALISE GAY CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS NEXT YEAR, SAYS LGBT+ LAWMAKER
• LHUANIA'S 'GAY PROPAGANDA' LAW LOOMS OVER FIGHT FOR SAME-SEX UNNS
• VILNI GAY SNAS
• LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
• LAKERS AMONG TEAMS LKED TO RUDY GAY
• JAGUARS STRENGTH COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY

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

”More rmatnAt 4am on that day Augt, a group of hood figur, who are yet to be intified, hurled Molotov cktails agast the small office belongg to the Lhuanian Gay League (LGL), which is the first anizatn Lhuania to fight for LGBT+ rights. Simonko found the anizatn 1995, two years after the untry crimalized homosexualy. Fifteen mut later, another Molotov cktail was left outsi the hoe of the uple, who work to brg visibily to the gay muny one of the most rtrictive untri the European Unn when to homosexualy.

Only 24% of Lhuanians support same-sex marriage pared to the European average of 64%, acrdg to a 2016 survey by the European people put attacks such as that agast the LGL down to pure homophobia, while others argue that is more to do wh the fact that until recently, the untry was unr the ntrol of the Soviet Unn. “Dpe the magnificent progrs recent years, the LGBT muny is still facg habual discrimatn, ” explas Daniele Vtti, a member of the European Parliament who is on the civil liberti missn, via USSR nsired homosexualy an unsirable nce of the bourgeoisie. Daniele Vtti, MEP on the civil liberti missnWhen to discrimatn, the Baltic Republic 37th out of 49 European untri the rankg of the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA), wh fay valu beg the ma obstacle to the advancement of LGBT+ the untry, which has almost three ln habants, lived unr the Soviet Unn, everyone need to be equal, says Vtti.

LBIAN UPLE W IVF ‘GAY TAX’ BATTLE

“The USSR nsired homosexualy an unsirable nce of the bourgeoisie, ” he explas. What’s more, homosexualy wasn’t even nsired to exist and was believed to be a notn that “me om Wtern thought, ” says Simonko.

“Belossian gays e to Lhuania so they n eely go out! ” he exclaims, potg out that the Balkan republic nced asylum to homosexuals om Chechnya 2017. In Vilni, where there is only one nightclub for the gay muny – SOHO, which opens on Fridays and Saturdays – homosexual symbols are notable for their V.

JAGUARS STRENGTH ACH IS FIRST MALE ACH A MAJOR US-BASED PRO LEAGUE TO E OUT AS GAY

Raskevici reprents the new generatn of gays Lhuania and is Vilni’s first openly gay policianTomas V.

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

Raskevici reprents the new generatn of gays Lhuania who want to “e out of the closet” whout fear of their parent’s opns – one of the biggt problems for a generatn that grew up unr munism, where homosexualy was prohibed. “I am a profsnal gay, ” he says wh a se Vilni Cy Hall, a large glass skyscraper which looks over the Baltic cy.

He is the first openly gay polician at Vilni Cy Hall. Raskevici, who is wearg a long quilted at and a floral shirt, and is a shaved head and blue ntact lens, was Vilni’s first openly gay polician whose electoral mpaign not only drew upon his personal history, but also on the fense of LGBT+ rights.

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

Durg the mpaign, Raskevici rells how he was harshly cricized by policians and by society for “not knowg how to be anythg other than beg gay. ”Lhuania and LGBTHomosexualy was crimalized marriage is illegal. Adoptn by gay parents is change genr, a urt lg is required and only after surgery has taken place.

A lbian uple who lnched a legal battle over equali IVF treatment between heterosexual and same-sex upl have dropped their fight after their lol re board pledged to make treatment sts media fluencers Megan and Whney Ban-Evans lnched a landmark “gay tax” discrimatn se after NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB) said same-sex upl, sgle women and upl unable to have vagal terurse would have to pay for 12 rounds of IVF before qualifyg for NHS assistance. A group of "gay furry" hackers has been releasg rmatn om US state ernments. SiegedSec, a self-scribed group of gay furry hackers, took s skills to state ernments late June, breachg agenci across five stat and releasg a wealth of data.The stat targeted on June 27 were Texas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and South Carola.

VILNI GAY SNAS

"We are also actually gay furri, I've seen untls people doubt that aspect of our group.". "Uwu gay furri pwn you~ We'll be back aga soon to ntue our chaos and stctn!"Some news outlets, such as Them, raised ncerns that the group's actns uld expose random people to harm, not jt the targeted ernments.

Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted when the then-St.

(Thomson Rters Foundatn) - Lhuania looks set to legalise same-sex civil partnerships next year, but gay marriage uld be up to a away, acrdg to the untry’s only openly LGBT+ lawmaker - elected this year after appearg on the mpaign trail full Baltic natn’s nstutn says marriage n only be between a man and a woman, and Tomas Raskevici said a nstutnal amendment allowg same-sex marriage would stggle to ga enough support the next few is nfint, however, that registered partnerships for same-sex upl will bee law before the next parliamentary electn due 2024. Although gay sex was legalised 1993, mon wh many other former Soviet untri, LGBT+ people are still unable to adopt children and a law preventg the discsn of homosexualy wh mors remas on the statute “Protectn of Mors” law is beg nsired by the European Court of Human Rights, but Raskevici said was his “prcipal posn... “We get to this vic circle bee LGBT people don’t have the chance to e out and then society don’t have the chance to meet them real life, and then they hold certa negative stereotyp about this muny, ” Raskevici DRAGLhuania’s first openly gay MP was Rokas Zilskas, who died 2017, but Raskevici was the first to clare his sexualy before enterg the untry’s only openly LGBT+ lawmaker, Raskevici - who donned drag as he nvassed support for October’s electn to challenge “stereotyp about LGBT people” - regnis the need to be a role he remas a reluctant one.

LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE

Tomas Raskevici, first gay rights activist to be elected to parliament, pos the parliament Vilni, Lhuania April 27, 2021. "The vote illtrat that ensurg human rights is a long-term procs which needs much more work", Tomas Raskevici, an openly gay member of parliament who sponsored the bill, told said he would try to troduce the bill aga tumn, wh some unspecified chang to try plate crics.

A Lhuanian artist has raised over $6, 000 for LGBT groups by sellg a digal llage of homophobic msag that were sent to Raskevici, the first gay rights activist to be elected to parliament.

VILNIUS (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - As the target of nstant homophobic abe as a teenager, Rimas Prokopovici rarely heard anythg posive about gay people when he was growg up a provcial cy northern many young LGBT+ people the Baltic state, a member of the European Unn sce 2004, he blam the untry’s “gay propaganda” the 2009 legislatn has not been enforced recent years, LGBT+ rights mpaigners say legimis homophobic attus, curbs ee speech and is hamperg their fight for same-sex civil partnerships to be legalised. I was bullied a lot, ” he told the Thomson Rters Foundatn the pal, Vilni, where he studi molecular the “gay propaganda” law by crics, the Lhuanian legislatn bans sharg rmatn wh unr-18s that “exprs ntempt for fay valu (or) enurag... Ambassador to Lhuania, who himself is gay.

LAKERS AMONG TEAMS LKED TO RUDY GAY

A ernment spokperson uld not immediately be reached to ment on the European urt applitn or the stat of the law, which officials have said has not been implemented sce 2014 and was beg discsed wh LGBT+ year, Hungary was nmned by the European Unn for banng the dissematn of ntent emed to promote “genr change and homosexualy” to unr-18s, while Rsia’s 2013 “gay propaganda” law regularly mak ternatnal headl. ‘CHILLING EFFECT’In Vilni, LGBT+ stunt activists said they also thought the 2009 law had ntributed to the wispread homophobia they enuntered when growg up, makg harr to e to terms wh their genr inty and sexualy.

Nobody talks about or talks about only negatively, ” Balciunae said, durg a party to celebrate the LGBT+ society’s third other ex-Soviet Baltic stat, Lhuania crimalised gay sex the early 1990s on beg pennt, but at the same time banned same-sex marriage by fg marriage as solely between a man and a woman s 1992 natn of 2.

Long-lastg tradns and fay valu, ” he for the untry’s LGBT+ muny ntu to have a “chillg effect” on their stggle for equal rights, cludg the ph for civil unns, said Tomas Raskevici, the first Lhuanian MP to e out as gay before standg for parliament. 29, the Lhuanian Gay League (LGL) advocy group held a nference on LGBT+ fay rights at the Jtice Mistry after parliament blked at hostg the event. ”(The story has been refiled to clarify par 24 that Raskevici was the first to e out as gay before standg for parliament)Reportg by Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage; Edg by Helen Popper and Hugo Greenhalgh.

JAGUARS STRENGTH COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY

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. Public OpnPublic opn polls particular regns of Lhuania have found that homophobic beliefs persist. HistoryHomosexual activy Lhuania?

Homosexual activy Lhuania is legal. 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. Servg openly ary Lhuania is lbians, gays, bisexuals permted, transgenr people banned.