The draft law on civil union, which was removed from the Seimas agenda on Monday, was put back on it on Tuesday.
The civil union bill is aimed at legally recognising same-sex relations. It was removed from the Seimas agenda by a decision of the ruling parties’ elders.
However, the same-sex partnership bill was proposed for discussion on Tuesday by Vytautas Mitalas, an elder of the Freedom Party political group.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas and leader of the Liberal Movement, said on Monday that the civil union bill was removed from the Seimas agenda because of the lack of support for it in the parliament.
The Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs approved the bill in September, but it has not been brought for plenary discussion so far.
While the liberal members of the ruling coalition have supported legislation on same-sex partnership, they have so far failed to secure the votes of conservatives.
The draft law on civil union was latter approved by the Seimas at the discussion stage.
On Tuesday, 60 MPs voted in favour of the draft law, 52 voted against it, and three abstained. The final vote on the adoption of the law is still to take place.
The bill passed its first vote in the Lithuanian parliament in May 2022.
The draft law foresees that the partners forming a civil union would create a common property, if not agreed otherwise, act in each other’s name and in each other’s interests, represent each other in the field of healthcare, and have a right to access information on partner’s health.
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