Police prepare as Kaunas hosts second LGBT+ pride march

Kaunas will host its second LGBT+ community march, Kaunas Pride, on Saturday, September 12, with organisers and police preparing for the event, LRT reports.

Organisers said the final days before the march were intense but smoother than in 2021, when the event was held in Kaunas for the first time. They said the city municipality had been more willing to cooperate this year, and no major difficulties had arisen in coordinating the route and other details.

About 2,000 people attended the 2021 march. Organisers said attendance could be lower this year, although they were hoping for the best.

Organisers said many members of the LGBT+ community still do not feel safe being themselves in public. They said each participant therefore represented not only themselves but also those who did not feel able to join.

According to organisers, the community’s situation has not changed significantly in recent years, and its main demands remain the same. They are calling for simpler and more accessible administrative procedures for registering partnerships and changing a person’s name and gender marker, without excessive legal or medical requirements.

Organisers noted that former Health Minister A. Dulkys established access to gender transition procedures for transgender people and slightly simplified the process of changing a name. However, they said changing identity documents still requires an application to a court, making the process lengthy and expensive.

They also highlighted two Constitutional Court decisions. In 2024, the court ruled that the Law on the Protection of Minors from the Negative Impact of Public Information was unconstitutional. On April 17, 2025, it ruled that a same-sex couple constitutes a family relationship and required the state to register such relationships as civil status acts.

Organisers said LGBTQIA+ people should be able to live as a family under the Constitution, but that this remains possible in practice only through the courts. They added that an increasing number of LGBTQIA+ couples were defending their rights in court and winning, with each case costing Lithuania thousands of euros.

“We have been, are and will be part of Lithuania’s history and future, in big cities, towns and villages,” the organisers said. They called for respect, recognition, visibility, protection and suitable, accessible healthcare services for everyone.

Police and trained volunteers to provide security

Organisers are sharing safety information on social media and advising participants not to respond to verbal provocations or to try to de-escalate confrontations through their behaviour.

They said participants facing a physical threat should record it if possible and inform a security volunteer or police officer. Police will patrol before, during and after the march, while volunteers responsible for security have received special training.