US State Department and LGBT meeting in Vilnius
VILNIUS: Meeting with the representatives of the US State Department and the leadership of the Lithuanian Gay and Lesbian organisation at the LGBT centre in Vilnius.
On 1 July 2011 representatives of the Lithuanian organisations active in the area of human rights gathered for a meeting with the representatives of the US State Department including Mike Posner, Assistant Secretary to the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and his deputies Daniel Baer and Thomas Melia.
At the meeting, which took place at the nation’s only LGBT community centre in Vilnius, issues related to human rights and the problems that homosexual and transgender people experience in Lithuania were discussed.
The participants of the meeting named a number of problems that the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people) community faces in the country.
Head of the Lithuanian Gay League Vladimir Simonko thanked the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her strong support for human rights defenders and the attention devoted to the LGBT communities worldwide.
The guests showed interest in the activities undertaken by the organisations that participated in the meeting, including parliamentary initiatives and the work of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and the Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson.
The meeting was attended by the Member of Parliament Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė, representatives of the Lithuanian Gay League, the Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights and the Tolerant Youth.
Editorial coment:
“It is of great importence that the Lithuanian Gay and Lesbians are getting this kind of positive internationally support of such high quality, and has the posibility to arrange such meetings to focus on the enormouse difficulities that the Lithuanina Gay and Lesbians are having in their own country.
It is also impressing that the leadership of the Lithuanian Gay and Lesbian Association still is finding the power to continue the seriouse presentation of the gay and lesbians difficult situation, which in Lithuania is somwhat special in europe. Where other members of EU fully are accepting Gays and Lesbians, and giving them rights to live their live as all other citysens, Lithuania is still back in the last decennium comparing with other countries
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If Lithuania shall be respected in other countries in EU and as a fully member of EU, being respected now when they are preparing to hold the presidency of EU second half of 2012
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. – It is of great importance that such activities like this meeting between leading US representatives and joined by representative from Seimas such as Member of Parliament Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė, together representatives of the Lithuanian Gay League, the Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights and the Tolerant Youth. I do sincerely hope that this dialogue will continue”.
Henning Høholt, EU Culture expert and editor of Kulturkompasset.