Šiauliu Apskritis is governed by federal Lithuania law. Learn more
    Homosexuality
    ✔ Legal
    Gay Marriage
    ✖ Banned
    Censorship
    ✖ Fine as punishment
    Changing Gender
    ✖ Legal, but requires medical diagnosis
    Gender-Affirming Care
    ✔ Legal
    Non-Binary Gender Recognition
    ✖ Not legally recognized
    Discrimination
    ✖ Illegal in some contexts
    Employment Discrimination
    ✖ Sexual orientation only
    Housing Discrimination
    ✖ Sexual orientation only
    Adoption
    ✖ Single only
    Intersex Infant Surgery
    ✖ Not banned
    Military
    ✖ Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned
    Donating Blood
    ✔ Legal
    Conversion Therapy
    ✖ Not banned
    Age of Consent
    ✔ Equal
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Public Opinion

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History

Homosexual activity in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Homosexual activity in Šiauliu Apskritis is legal.

Current status
Since Jun 1993
Legal
In 1993, Lithuania's Parliament abolished Article 122.1 of it's Penal Code. In doing so, homosexuality became legal in Lithuania.
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Jan 1, 1940–Jan 1, 1993
Male illegal, female legal
Lithuania was absorbed by the USSR in 1940. An article under which sodomy was punishable by imprisonment from 5 to 8 years existed in the Soviet Criminal Code from March 7, 1934 - number 154-a: “Sexual intercourse between a man and a man (sodomy) - imprisonment for a term of three to five years. Sodomy committed with the use of violence or taking advantage of the dependent position of the victim - imprisonment for a term of five to eight years."

Same-sex marriage in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Same-sex marriage in Šiauliu Apskritis is banned.

Current status
Since Oct 25, 1992
Banned
Constitutionally banned since 1992. A bill that would have allowed civil unions with limited rights for same-sex couples would have been discussed soon in the Parliament but that was taken off the schedule.
A court in 2023 stated that a same-sex couple who married abroad cannot register their marriage.

Censorship of LGBT issues in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Censorship of LGBT issues in Šiauliu Apskritis is fine as punishment.

Current status
2009–Dec 28, 2024
Fine as punishment
LGBTQ+ content is restricted for minors in Lithuania since 2009. The law has been used to censor LGBT books, TV shows, ads and series under the guise of "protecting minors".
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Right to change legal gender in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Right to change legal gender in Šiauliu Apskritis is legal, but requires medical diagnosis.

Current status
Since Feb 2, 2022
Legal, but requires medical diagnosis
Article 2.27 of the Civil Code allows any non-married person to change legal gender if this is medically possible. The second paragraph states, however, that the procedures for changing gender should be led according to a separate law. The Parliament and the Government of Lithuania refuse to take any actions on adopting such a law after it lost the case of L v. Lithuania in the European Court of Human Rights in 2007. Since then, gender change has become possible only with a court's decision and sex reassignment surgery.

It was proposed to eliminate this provision in 2009, and once again in 2013.

In April 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled, in A.P., Garçon and Nicot v. France, that it is discriminatory and a human rights violation to require transgender people to undergo surgery to alter their official documents. Subsequently, two Lithuanian trans men were allowed by Lithuanian courts to change their gender on their official documents without them undergoing surgery beforehand. Lithuanian LGBT groups are now calling on future legislation scrapping the requirement for surgery to be introduced.

Effective from February 2, 2022, transgender individuals within Lithuania who want to change their legal name and/or sex can do so legally without sex reassignment surgery under new justice regulations. However, trans people who wish to change their name on official documents will still have to obtain a certificate from a Lithuanian or EU healthcare establishment of “diagnosed transgenderism”

Gender-affirming care in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Gender-affirming care in Šiauliu Apskritis is legal.

Current status
Since 1998
Legal
In 1998, Lithuania adopted the ICD-10 classification, which contains codes for diagnosing transsexualism in adulthood and childhood, which authorize the initiation of medical transition.
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Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Šiauliu Apskritis is not legally recognized.

Current status
Not legally recognized
According to the ILGA Europe, there's no recognition of non-binary gender in Lithuania.
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LGBT discrimination in Šiauliu Apskritis

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LGBT discrimination in Šiauliu Apskritis is illegal in some contexts.

Current status
Since Sep 26, 2000
Illegal in some contexts
In the Lithuania criminal code in Article 170, sexual orientation is among the things that are explicitly banned from being discriminated against. Gender identity is not one of those things.
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LGBT employment discrimination in Šiauliu Apskritis

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LGBT employment discrimination in Šiauliu Apskritis is sexual orientation only.

Current status
Since 2000
Sexual orientation only
Sexual orientation protections only.
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LGBT housing discrimination in Šiauliu Apskritis

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LGBT housing discrimination in Šiauliu Apskritis is sexual orientation only.

Current status
Sexual orientation only
Sexual orientation protections only.
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Same-sex adoption in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Same-sex adoption in Šiauliu Apskritis is single only.

Current status
Single only
Legalization pending.
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Intersex infant surgery in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Intersex infant surgery in Šiauliu Apskritis is not banned.

Current status
Not banned
There is no official ban on unnecessary sex reassignment operations in infants in Lithuania.
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Serving openly in military in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Serving openly in military in Šiauliu Apskritis is lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned.

Current status
Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned
Only 26 countries allow transgender military service, Lithuania is not one of them
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Blood donations by MSMs in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Blood donations by MSMs in Šiauliu Apskritis is legal.

Current status
Since May 1, 2022
Legal
The restrictions were removed.
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Conversion therapy in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Conversion therapy in Šiauliu Apskritis is not banned.

Current status
Since May 12, 2015
Not banned
Conversion therapy ban pending.
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Equal age of consent in Šiauliu Apskritis

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Equal age of consent in Šiauliu Apskritis is equal.

Current status
Since Jan 1, 2004
Equal under federal Lithuania law
Equal at 16 years.
Art 151 of the Lithuanian Criminal Code.
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