Commenting on the bill legislating same-sex civil partnership, President Gitanas Nausėda said he would not like to focus on the rights of “sexual minorities”, but think about the elderly and families with children.
“I understand human rights broadly,” Nausėda said after meeting with Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, speaker of the parliament, and other members of the Board of the Seimas to discuss the key agenda items for the parliament’s autumn session that is starting this week.
“Human rights encompass [the rights of] our sexual minorities as well as the desire to have easier access to narcotic substances,” the president said. “But in my eyes, human rights are equally about the financial situation of our seniors and the situation of families, especially those with children, and of people with disabilities.”
“When we talk about human rights, let’s not forget that the majority of people in Lithuania today have human rights that we could do more to guarantee to a wider and deeper extent,” he added.
A civil union bill aimed at legally regulating relations between same-sex partners in Lithuania passed its second reading in the parliament by a narrow margin in May. It will still have to pass a third and final vote to be adopted.
Currently, Lithuanian laws do not recognise either opposite-sex or same-sex civil partnerships. Several previous attempts to pass legislation fell through at an early stage of the parliamentary process.
So far, Nausėda has not yet said whether or not he would sign the bill into law or veto it. He has promised to inform the public of his position after the final vote.
The president said on Tuesday that efforts to regulate same-sex relationships are “a sign of a civilized state”.
Nausėda noted that this is not the only draft law that is currently under consideration by the parliament, referring to an alternative bill on “close relationship” tabled by a group of conservative MPs.
“I believe this issue can be addressed in various ways. We know that there are different opinions in society and that the Church does not directly oppose the regulation of relationships. However, I reiterate: it is important for me to preserve the content and spirit of Article 38 of the Lithuanian Constitution,” the president said, referring to the article that expressly precludes same-sex marriage.
Article 38 reads that “family shall be the basis of the society and the State", that “family, motherhood, fatherhood, and childhood shall be under the protection and care of the State” and that “marriage shall be concluded upon the free mutual consent of man and woman”.
For her part, Čmilytė-Nielsen, a liberal, said that Nausėda’s support for “both same-sex and different-sex partnerships [...] is certainly important”.
“I think we have a good chance, by joining forces not only in the Seimas, but also in other branches of government, to take the final step that would do honour to the Seimas of the current term and resolve the long-standing debt to human rights in Lithuania,” she said after the meeting.
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