On 25 March 2015, 9 members of the Seimas from the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Movement introduced a civil partnership bill. Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party Algirdas Butkevičius expressed his opposition to the bill. On 6 May 2015, the Committee on Legal Affairs announced that they could find no constitutional barriers to same-sex civil partnerships in the Baltic state. The bill was not voted upon and died at the end of Parliament's term in November 2016. A similar bill was introduced by deputies from the Liberal Movement on 30 May 2017. The bill was rejected in its first reading in a 29-59 vote with 20 abstentions, on 15 June 2017.
Cohabitation agreements
In 2017, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and the Homeland Union proposed a bill to establish "cohabitation agreements" as an alternative to civil partnerships. The proposed legislation would guarantee cohabitants hospital visitation rights and the right to inherit a late partner's property. Povilas Urbšys, one of the authors of the proposal said: "Our registered project will effectively contribute to legal clarity, regulate property rights and some property unrelated relations between people living together and will also help to avoid negative consequences when the cohabitation is dissolved." The proposal, which was criticised by LGBT groups, explicitly stipulates that the cohabitants entering the agreement do not intend to create family relations. The proposal was preliminarily approved by the Seimas with 46 votes for, 17 votes against and 6 abstentions on 31 May 2017 and sent to further consideration. On 25 October 2017, the Lithuanian Government announced its support for the bill. On 14 February 2018, appearing at an LGBT rally in Vilnius, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis called on the Seimas to recognise same-sex partnerships.
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriages are not legal in Lithuania, with the Civil Code defining marriage as a voluntary agreement between a man and a woman. Moreover, there is an additional article in the Civil Code that explicitly bans same-sex marriages. Nevertheless, a drive to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriages was reportedly under way in December 2005 by a conservativemember of the Parliament, who had started collecting signatures for such an amendment. Julius Sabatauskas, chairman of the Parliament's Legal Committee, however, denounced the plan and said it was unneeded. Some MPs say Lithuania's Constitution already bans same-sex marriage. Article 38 of the Constitution states: "Marriage shall be concluded upon the free mutual consent of man and woman." The actual effect of this statement is unknown and it has yet to be challenged in court.
On 5 June 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that European Union member states must recognise the freedom of movement and residency rights of same-sex spouses, provided one partner is an EU citizen. The Court ruled that EU member states may choose whether or not to allow same-sex marriage, but they cannot obstruct the freedom of residence of an EU citizen and their spouse. Furthermore, the Court ruled that the term "spouse" is gender-neutral, and that it does not necessarily imply a person of the opposite sex. On 11 January 2019, the Supreme Court, in compliance with the ECJ ruling, ruled that the Lithuanian state must grant residency rights to the same-sex partners of European Union citizens.
Public opinion
According to the 2015 Eurobarometer, 24% of Lithuanians supported same-sex marriage, the fourth lowest among EU member states alongside Slovakia. EU-wide support was 61%. The 2019 Eurobarometer found that 30% of Lithuanians thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, 63% were against.
