Eastern Europe was once a world lear on gay rights. Then ran out of spegoats | CNN

Contents:

• THE LONG JOURNEY OUT OF THE CLOSET FOR LHUANIA’S GAY MUNY
• EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS
• EUROPEAN RIGHTS COURT RUL AGAST RSIAN GAY 'PROPAGANDA' LAW
• RSIA: EUROPEAN COURT RUL GAY PRI BAN UNLAWFUL
• WHERE EUROPE STANDS ON GAY MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNNS
• WHEN DO VOTERS SUPPORT THE EUROPEAN UNN’S INVOLVEMENT GAY RIGHTS?

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

Neverthels, discrimatn agast lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) people persists throughout the EU and tak var forms, cludg verbal abe and physil vlence.

The European Commissn, the Parliament and the Council, together wh Member Stat, all share a rponsibily to protect fundamental rights and ensure equal treatment and equaly for recent s, legislative velopments, se law and policy iativ have improved many people’s liv and helped buildg more equal and welg societi, cludg for lbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-bary, tersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people.

”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.

EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS

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.

EUROPEAN RIGHTS COURT RUL AGAST RSIAN GAY 'PROPAGANDA' LAW

“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. 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.

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. However, lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) people n face discrimatn many areas of life, for stance when lookg for a job or askg for social secury benefs, at school or when they need healthre.

RSIA: EUROPEAN COURT RUL GAY PRI BAN UNLAWFUL

Civil society anisatns help promote posive change and this is why the European Commissn supports European LGBTI anisatns such as ILGA-Europe, part of the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, Transgenr Europe and IGLYO. Hungary’s hardle natnalist ernment passed a new law earlier this month banng ntent that “promot” homosexualy and genr change om beg shared wh children, effectively prohibg any discsn of LGBTQ them schools. In dog so, Orbán has followed the playbook of Poland’s ernment, which has been chippg away at the rights of the LGBTQ muny for a number of years, adoptg discrimatory rhetoric and stokg homophobia.

WHERE EUROPE STANDS ON GAY MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNNS

“There’s a real regrsn happeng many different untri, and rights that had been regnized are now beg challenged, ” said Evelyne Paradis, the executive director of the European branch of the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA-Europe). “You have plac like Germany, France, Spa where 85% or more say that homosexualy should be accepted by society and then once you’re past the dividg le, on the other si of the former Iron Curta, those numbers beg to fall pretty rapidly and then get even lower as you go to Rsia, ” he said. “When you look at the former Eastern bloc, the untri had a long tradn of really progrsive legislatn towards LGBTQ rights, Poland for stance crimalized homosexualy 1932, which is really, really early, ” Kościańska said.

REUTERS/Kacper PempelSummaryEU Commissn print lls Hungarian law 'shameful'17 of 27 EU members sign letter opposg discrimatnOrban rejects ia of revokg the lawBERLIN, June 24 (Rters) - European Unn lears on Thursday nonted their peer, Prime Mister Viktor Orban, over Hungary's new anti-LGBT law, strsg their mment to fendg gay rights and pilg prsure on Budapt to step if he would revoke the bill, passed last week to ban the distributn of material schools emed to promote homosexualy or genr change, Orban said on arrivg to talks among the bloc's 27 natnal lears Bssels:"The law is already announced, 's published, 's done. " LGBTI stands for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and - a self-styled csar for what he portrays as tradnal Catholic valu unr prsure om Wtern liberals - said the new law was aimed at givg parents' the exclive right to ci about their children's sexual tn. "The most difficult thg for me was to accept myself when I realised that I was love wh a person of my sex, was how to tell my parents, how to tell my fay, " he said, strsg that young homosexuals are prone to suici if they fail to embrace who they are and e said he would tell Orban nflatg homosexualy wh paedophilia or pornography was wrong, as was stigmatisg people.

The northern Italian cy of Padua has started removg the nam of non-blogil gay mothers om their children’s birth certifit unr new legislatn passed by the “tradnal fay-first” ernment of Prime Mister Grgia Meloni.

WHEN DO VOTERS SUPPORT THE EUROPEAN UNN’S INVOLVEMENT GAY RIGHTS?

“There is no discrimatn agast children, ” Fay Mister Eugenia Roccella told parliament when she troduced the bill June, explag that the children of gay upl would have accs to school and medil servic jt like those who only have one livg parent. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has led that Rsia’s law banng the dissematn of gay "propaganda" to mors vlat the right to eedom of exprsn, is discrimatory agast gay people, and enurag homophobia. The Strasbourg-based urt said on June 20 that f imposed on three gay-rights activists vlated two articl on eedom of exprsn and prohibn of discrimatn of the European Conventn on Human Rights.

The judg also said that by adoptg the law, the Rsian thori "rerced stigma and prejudice and enuraged homophobia, " which they said is "patible wh the notns of equaly, pluralism, and tolerance herent a mocratic society.

"The way this law has been applied shows that is not aimed at protectg mors, but at removg LGBT people, an enormo social group, om the public space, and at strippg them of their right to speak out or fight for their rights, " said Alekseyev, founr of the Mosw-based gay-rights group. Denis Krivosheyev, puty director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnty Internatnal, also weled the lg and urged Rsia to "repeal s homophobic legislatn, end discrimatory practic, and fully rpect every person's right to eedom of exprsn.