Lithuania

May 17 actions in Lithuania spread over three weeks, and three cities, and engaged strongly with the international focus on Freedom of Expression. Highlights included a high-profile opening reception co-hosted by 14 embassies, a bus-top tour in the capital city center, movie screenings, debates and discussion events, as well as many other actions.

Members of Lithuania’s principal LGBTI rights group, the Lithuanian Gay League (LGL), put together the following report (May 28, 2014):
The Rainbow Days 2014, a three-week long festival organized by LGL (Lithuanian Gay League) in celebration of IDAHOT (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia), is coming to an end. These last few weeks have seen a number of cultural events happening in Vilnius and in other Lithuanian cities, all of them revolving around the topic of freedom of expression for the LGBT community.

The Rainbow Days started on May 7 with a lecture on the situation for LGBT people in Russia. On the following week, we had a quiz on human rights, the screening of the movie Children of God, a reception hosted by thirteen foreign ambassadors. Following these events, the main moment of our Rainbow Days was organized on May 17: a yellow bus, filled with rainbow flags and colorful people, toured the streets of Vilnius to raise the awareness of the city on issues related to homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. On May 21, LGL presented the Baltic Pride 2013 photo-album, and a lecture followed on the challenges faced by queer artists. On May 22, LGL friends were invited to our office for the screening of the movie Roma Boys and a debate on intersectionality and multiple discrimination, and the following day the Rainbow Days moved to Kaunas, the second biggest city in Lithuania, for a lecture on the social construction of gender and another movie screening. Still one event is on our list: in a few days, on May 30, we will be in Klaipeda for a movie screening and a workshop on the relation between communities and social movements.
LGL is very satisfied with the success of the the Rainbow Days 2014. All the events organized saw a huge participation, and we believe that this initiative helped increasing the visibility of the LGBT community in Lithuania, as well as giving a space for the LGBT community itself to discuss topics that are fundamental for our activism and our strife for recognition of all rights.
Further Information
LGL: Website and on Facebook