Sandra Adomavičiūtė. I a have a dream (a speech for Rainbow Awards)

Categories: Talks and IdeasPublished On: 2024 June 11

Lithuanian Pride 2024 took place on Saturday 8 June. The Open Lithuania Foundation established the nomination “Active Citizen” at the Rainbow Awards. This nomination was dedicated to one of the 11 projects funded by the Active Citizens Foundation, which focused on equality, inclusion and support for the LGBTQ community. The nomination went to the Lithuanian Dance-Movement Therapy Association, which worked with LGBTQ youth in Visaginas.

Here is a speech by Sandra Adomavičiūtė, Director of the Open Lithuania Foundation:

“When Lithuania regained its independence almost thirty-five years ago, it promised freedom, democracy and equal rights for all its citizens. We fought oppression, we fought persecution and we dreamed of a free country.

But today, living in a free country, I am saddened to see that freedom and that justice are not for everyone. That we still have to conform to imaginary standards, that we are forced to fit into frames and that we are in no way free to decide our own lives. Someone still has the power and the right to tell us who we can and cannot love, who we can and cannot build a family with. It does not have to be this way. I have many dreams about the kind of Lithuania I want to live in.

I have a dream that every June the rainbow flag flies at Gediminas Castle. And nobody would be offended by it.

I have a dream that I will never again hear words of hatred, contempt and humiliation towards my fellow citizens.

I have a dream that every person in Lithuania could walk hand in hand with his or her partner along Gediminas Avenue, Laisvės Avenue or Palanga Bridge. And that no one in this country would have to hide anymore.

I have a dream that one day I will be able to participate in an official marriage ceremony in Telšiai, Skuodas, Kupiškis or Šiauliai, where people of the same sex marry. I have a dream that that day will come soon.

I have a dream that having two mums or two dads would be as natural and easy as having only a mum, only a dad or only grandparents.

I have a dream that we teach our children to respect and accept diversity.

I have a dream to live in an open Lithuania.

That is my hope. And this is the hope that we work for every day. And I am extremely happy that so many different organisations are coming together in this mission and that we have such tremendous support from the international community. This is the Norwegian, Icelandic and Liechtenstein support for an open, civic and equal Lithuania.

Today, I would like to present the Active Citizen nomination to the Lithuanian Dance Movement Therapy Association, an organisation that has worked with LGBTQ youth in Visaginas, for its active work towards freedom for all. Thank you.