Emilia and Mary are engaged, but cannot legitimize the partnership yet.

However, the liberals assure that the project will be in the Seimas in the coming months. It is not known if there will be enough votes. As long as human rights politicians are divided, gay couples mention their pains; Although they live as a family, they cannot even get an apartment loan.

“It just came to our knowledge then. We plunged into the cold water in October, we were very happy. Mary ran quickly to the car to collect the ring.

The girls have been together for five years, recently engaged. I would like to legalize the company, but I cannot, because the law does not allow it.

“Legal issues. God forbid, anything would happen: there would be problems with inheritance, access to medical information, obtaining a loan, leasing in two much more difficult,” says Vilnius Marija Markauskaitė.

During the quarantine, legal problems arose, especially for unmarried or same-sex couples. Even when crossing the municipal border, it is now difficult for police officers to prove that a car is being driven by members of the same household; this is not reflected in the documents. Emilia does not understand why, for a part of society, legalizing a society seems like a threat to the family.

“It doesn’t touch the people around me at all, it would just give me, as a Lithuanian citizen who chose to stay in Lithuania, the opportunity to feel very good here,” says Emilija Bružilaitė from Vilnius.

By the way, the right to association was enshrined in the Civil Code when Mary and Emilia were very young, 20 years ago. However, the law did not appear during this time.

“It is sad that I live in this state, here I pay taxes, I try to be a good citizen, a good member of society, this state is dear to me and I, as a citizen, do not feel loved”, says M. Markauskaitė.

To finally legalize same-sex couples and couples between men and women, the Freedom Party and the Liberal Movement have developed their own electoral programs. The Freedom Party promised to register the law even within the first 100 days in power. Those days are almost over, but there are no projects yet.

There was a problem: what to do with the children?

The law is being drafted by a working group of liberals and conservatives, but the problem has arisen: if one of the partners has a biological child, what rights and responsibilities should his partner acquire?

“A woman who has a biological child is married to a man who is not the father of that child. “Everything could work in the same way, some specific things should not be introduced,” said liberal Eugenijus Gentvilas.

Gentville believes that in a partnership, the same rules should apply as in a marriage if one of the spouses already has children. The new spouse must care for the child and the same rule applies in the case of a couple. The Freedom Party assures that it does not offer opportunities to become adoptive parents of homosexuals because it understands that it would not receive approval in the Seimas.

“Adoption is not considered at all in this project,” says Ieva Pakarklytė, a member of the Freedom Party.

According to the Freedom Group elder, more compromises may emerge.

“Our goal is for the project to get as much support as possible so that it can be accepted and the problem is finally solved in Lithuania. Therefore, we will look for a compromise variant as much as possible, which suits as many Seimas members as possible. possible ”, says I. Pakarklytė.

It is unknown if this will work for the most part. Liberals count that 60 deputies from various factions would support the Association Law or amendments to the Civil Code. Whether this is sufficient will depend on the number of Seimas members registered in the session. Some liberals may also vote against. And the conservatives, obviously not even a few.

“I will not support the institute of associations. The practice of western countries shows that the institute of association is the first step towards the legalization of marriage between persons of the same sex, so I think that step should not be taken”, says the Conservative Laurynas Kasčiūnas.

“We can expect different opinions. I think there will definitely be many people who support and understand the current problems in our world,” said conservative Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė.

There are contradictions

The union between people of the same sex also opposes the largest opposition group, the peasants. They assure that they will offer the Seimas an alternative: the association not as a family, but simply as a model of home. In other words, it is as if two people live together not out of love, but in joint activities, just like business partners.

“It is certainly not possible for people of the same sex, but for people of different genders, which is why we speak out against same-sex couples on the electoral program,” says peasant Agnė Širinskienė.

And workers, although they often call themselves liberals, want a referendum, not a bill.

“We believe that these are questions of moral values ​​that society as a whole must address. Usually these problems are solved through referendums and surveys, ”says Ieva Kačinskaitė-Urbonienė, a businesswoman.

At least some opposition Social Democrats are likely to support the association.

“It just came to our notice then. The party program includes this provision that we support,” says Social Democrat Algirdas Sysas.

Human rights experts recall that only six of the 27 countries of the European Union, including Lithuania, do not allow those who want to legalize the association.

“The Constitutional Court has repeatedly said that the Constitution is intended to protect not only the interests of the majority, but also the interests of a certain group in society. Even if it is relevant to a small group of society, it is important to keep in mind, not rejecting people, not forcing people to go to other countries, ”said Birutbata Sabatauskaitė, director of the Center for Human Rights.

The rulers have already agreed that in the spring session, the Association Law or the amendments to the Civil Code will be presented to the Seimas not by individual members of the Seimas, but by the Speaker of Parliament Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen.

Opponents will say that they will react with less hostility, for example, to Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, who actively demonstrates homosexuality.