The Lithuanian Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that a provision of a law that prohibits the spread of information about same-sex content relationships to minors is unconstitutional.

The court found that Clause 16 of Article 4(2) of the Law on the Protection of Minors from the Negative Influence of Public Information (Law on the Protection of Minors) violated Articles 25 and 38 of the Lithuanian Constitution. The justices found that the formulation of the clause was unclear and that it narrowed the content of the family as a constitutional institution.

The court stated that the nation’s constitution deems the concept of family as gender-neutral, and therefore the law violated constitutional values and rights such as freedom of expression and the concept of family. Constitutional Court President Gintaras Goda announced: “No legal regulation may be introduced which implies that information on any family models and relationships between individuals is in itself inappropriate for minors.” Goda further stated that children’s development shall be based on human rights, dignity, equality, and tolerance.

Clause 16 regards information as “detrimental for minors” if it “expresses contempt for family values, encourages the concept of entry into a marriage and creation of a family other than stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania.”

In February 2024, the former Justice Ministry asked the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the law. The request followed a failed proposal for amendments in the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) in November 2023.

Human rights issues regarding the law first appeared before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case Macatė v Lithuania, which concerned a ban on the publication of a series of Macatė’s books. Two of Macatė’s recent publications depicted members of various marginalized groups, including same-sex couples. In this case, Lithuania argued the texts violated the Law on the Protection of Minors by depicting a different concept of marriage and family. The ECtHR deemed this a violation of the freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ruling then played a part in the Lithuanian government’s decision to initiate the process of changing the law.

As confirmed in February by former Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska, the ruling of the provision’s unconstitutionality makes it null and void. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda had opposed amendments to this law in November 2023. He argued repealing the law would be a “green light to denigrate the family.”

Other countries, such as Bulgaria, have recently introduced bans on same-sex “propaganda,” which has sparked discontent among LGBTQ+ activists and human rights organizations.