On the occasion of International Human Rights Day we submitted a petition to the Parliament demanding the inclusion of ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ as prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Lithuanian Labour Code and the Law on Equal Opportunities.

Transgender people are one of the most marginalized groups in Lithuania, and often face discrimination in the labor market; however, discrimination on the grounds of gender identity or gender expression is not explicitly prohibited under Lithuanian legislation.

Most problems arise from the fact that Lithuanian laws seem to refuse to acknowledge the existence of trans people and thus fail to ensure their human rights. Even though Lithuania has an obligation to implement the right to legally change one’s gender⁠—this right is also entrenched in the Civil Code⁠—up until now, this obligation has not been fulfilled and no law regulating legal gender recognition exists. In 2007, in the case of L v. Lithuania, the European Court of Human Rights held that by delaying the implementation of the rights of transgender people under the Civil Code, Lithuania violated the European Convention on Human Rights. Because of Lithuania’s continued failure to implement the Court’s decision, this case was put under enhanced supervision procedure in 2014. However, instead of ensuring the rights of transgender people, Lithuania to this day pays thousands in fines yearly. Read more via GPS