Lithuania

In Lithuania, same-sex relations are legal. Transgender people, as of 2022, no longer have to undergo medical intervention to change their legal gender markers, although they still need a diagnosis of “transgenderism” from a health care professional. 

The courts have been a recent driver of progress in the face of obstacles to equality mounted by politicians. Two recent Constitutional Court rulings are noteworthy. First, in December 2024, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a 2009 law that made it illegal for minors to be exposed to information that promoted same-sex relations or concepts of the family outside of those in the constitution, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Months later, in April 2025, the Lithuanian Constitutional Court ruled that the institution of partnership, as now defined in Lithuania’s Civil Code, is unconstitutional because it only provides for a union between a man and a woman, excluding same-sex relationships and violating constitutional principles of equality and dignity. The court mandated Parliament to enact a law to recognize civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

 Cross-party groups of MPs introduced partnership legislation in late 2025, but it still needs to be passed. In the absence of a partnership recognition law, some same-sex couples are currently obtaining recognition through judicial decisions. In August 2025, a Vilnius court recognized a same-sex couple as a family and ordered their relationship registered, making history. 

Public opinion on LGBTIQ issues is generally conservative. The 2023 Eurobarometer found that only 39 percent of Lithuanians thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while only 42 percent agreed that “there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex.” ILGA‑Europe’s 2025 Annual Review documented ongoing hate‑motivated speech and several cases of violence, including a psychologist convicted of coercing asylum seekers into sexual acts and multiple incidents of public ridicule targeting LGBTI people. A survey of over 600 students conducted by the national queer organization in 2023 showed that students who were not heterosexual felt more insecure about their sexual orientation in the classroom, compared to the previous survey from 2017.

Despite some public hostility, Pride marches have been held in Lithuania since 2009. In 2021, a Pride march was held outside the capital city for the first time, in Kaunas.