Human rights organizations on Tuesday called on the European Commission to take urgent action over a Lithuanian proposal to hold a referendum on amending the constitution to redefine the concept of family.
“A significant number of MPs intend to trample upon the Constitution, the EU Accession Treaty and the Convention on Human Rights – civil society cannot allow this. We urge the European Commission, as the guardian of the treaties, to take swift steps to prevent an initiative that undermines the foundations of democracy,” said Martynas Norbutas, director of the Lithuanian Youth Centre and initiator of the appeal.
The proposal calls for holding the referendum next year alongside municipal elections to ask voters whether they support explicitly defining family in the Constitution as arising only from marriage between a man and a woman, as well as from motherhood and fatherhood.
Currently, Article 38 of Lithuania’s Constitution states that the family is the basis of society and the state, and that the state protects and cares for the family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood, while defining marriage as a union entered into by the free consent of a man and a woman.
In a ruling issued back in 2011, the Constitutional Court stated that the above does not imply that marriage is the only basis for family relations. In a 2019 ruling concerning a same-sex couple that got married abroad, the Court confirmed that their relation warrants constitutional protections as family.
Norbutas said the proposed changes to the Constitution would legalise discrimination by dividing families into those considered worthy of recognition and those not.
“We are following Russia’s path, where laws are first created to eliminate a segment of the population, followed by repression. This path has nothing to do with international law,” he said.
The letter of appeal cites findings by the Lithuanian parliament’s Legal Department, which said the proposal for a consultative referendum “raises serious doubts regarding its compliance with the constitutional principles of the rule of law, the supremacy of the Constitution and responsible governance”.
The organisations also pointed to case law from the European Court of Human Rights, where the concept of family is not limited to marriage, as well as European Union law obliging member states to recognise various forms of family, including same-sex couples.
In their letter, the groups urged the European Commission to assess the referendum initiative’s compliance with EU law and fundamental values, begin immediate dialogue with Lithuanian authorities, provide clear recommendations and take all possible steps to prevent potential human rights violations.
The appeal notes that the initiative, signed by 63 members of the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, received backing from 50 lawmakers last week.
Signatories include the Lithuanian Youth Centre, GayLine.LT, the Tolerant Youth Association, and the national LGBTIQA+ rights organization LGL.
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