Vilnius court rejects request to register same-sex marriage
The Vilnius District Court on Friday rejected an appeal from a same-sex couple seeking to have their marriage recognised by the Lithuanian authorities, reports lrt.lt.
The two male claimants were asking the court to oblige the Vilnius City Civil Registry Office to register their marriage and to have it entered into the Register of Marriage Contracts.
According to Gayline.lt, which reported on the case, the court stated that the provision on marriage in Article 38 of the Constitution “is clear and specific, and does not give rise to any presumption that it can be interpreted as conferring the right to marry irrespective of the sex of the persons concerned”.
Article 38 of the Lithuanian Constitution says that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
“Thus, according to official constitutional jurisprudence, the constitutional concept of marriage (as opposed to the constitutional concept of the family) is not gender-neutral, marriage can only be between a man and a woman,” the court’s ruling is quoted.
Statement by ILGA-Europe has been issued as well:
