A Lithuanian same-sex couple has been declared a legal family by a court in Lithuania, a historic victory for LGBTQ+ people in the Baltic nation.The two women in the couple, whose identities have not been made public, were living together and wanted to have their cohabitation recognized by the government as a form of partnership. The Vilnius City District Court agreed and ruled that the state should create a way for them to register their relationship. Related A lesbian princess just helped rule Lithuanias gay propaganda law as unconstitutional The Lithuanian constitution bans same-sex marriage, and the countrys Civil Code also bans the recognition of same-sex relationships as civil partnerships. Nevertheless, the decision comes after the nations Constitutional Court ruled in April that the Lithuanian Civil Code unconstitutionally limits relationship recognition to relationships that are composed of one man and one woman. The ruling said that current law violates constitutional principles, including the concept of the family derived from [the constitution], respect for human rights and dignity, as well as the values of equality, pluralism, and tolerance inherent in a democratic society. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today But that ruling isnt self-implementing. The Lithuanian parliament, called the Seimas, needs to pass legislation to create a form of civil partnership recognition for same-sex couples. Meanwhile, lower courts can recognize same-sex couples for some benefits under the law.This weeks ruling shows that ordinary people can use the courts to protect their rights, the couples attorney, Aivaras ilvinskas, told LRT. For the first time in history, the family status is recognized, ilvinskas said. All those laws and regulations that talk about people being members of a family economic and social benefits, allowances, support automatically apply to these couples. The outlet also reports that around 20 same-sex couples have also petitioned the court to have their relationships recognized. Since this ruling, we have been approached by some concerned people who wanted to learn how the litigation was done, said Artras Rudomanskis, the chair of the pro-LGBTQ+ organization Tolerant Youth Association (TJA). Maybe there are more, but at least from what I could count, its around that number.We are happy that more people will be equal, but there is still a long way to go, he continued. For people to be truly happy and feel equal, we need a functioning law-based system so we dont have to go through the courts. He explained that asking a court to recognize a relationship is a process that can take several months.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.