Foreign ambassadors to Lithuania express support for LGBTQI+ people

VILNIUS – Foreign ambassadors to Lithuania on Friday issued a statement to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), expressing their support for the LGBTQI+ community and hope that the parliament will pass a civil union bill. 

The statement, published by the US embassy, was signed by the ambassadors of 24 countries.

The ambassadors reaffirmed their "commitment to advancing and advocating in favor of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons".

"We express support for the members of the LGBTQI+ community in Lithuania, our own countries and elsewhere, as they seek equal rights. We welcome the positive developments on these issues in Lithuania in recent years, in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union," they said.

While fully respecting the democratic processes in the Seimas, we hope that the civil union bill "will pass the third reading successfully and would establish civil unions, offering some of the rights and benefits of marriage, including joint property ownership and the ability to make medical decisions for a partner." 

May 17 marks the date in 1990 when homosexuality was removed from the World Health Organization's Classification of Diseases, acknowledging that sexual orientation is an integral aspect of a person.