Changes in Public Opinion on the Concept of Family

Abstract

Based on the teachings of the Catholic Church, legal and scientific sources, and surveys of Lithuanian residents, this article explores changes in the concept of family in todayʼs society. A review of Catholic Church documents and Lithuanian laws revealed close links between the concept of the natural family enshrined in them: the latter is based on the bonds of marriage, blood ties, fatherhood, motherhood, childhood, or adoption; it derives from the difference and complementarity between men and women; it is perceived as the foundation of the state and society; it is protected and cared for by the state. However, there are threats to the transformation of the concept of family, such as the deconstruction of society’s mindset on gender and family concepts, the expansion of the concept of family by obliging society to follow it, and the mandatory sexuality education of minors based on social constructivism and gender education. However, a comparative analysis of representative opinion polls conducted among Lithuanian residents in 2021–2025 based on criteria for identifying the concept of family (attitudes toward the concept of family based on nature or diversity; attitude towards the legal regulation of same-sex couples; attitude towards the normalisation of these couplesʼ relationships) revealed that, despite efforts to deconstruct the concept of the natural family based on the difference and complementarity of men and women, the support of the Lithuanian population for it remains stable: there is opposition to the expansion of the concept of the family, with negative views expressed both on the ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania on gender-neutral partnerships, which expands the concept of the family, and on the obligation of the Parliament to regulate the relationships of opposite-sex and same-sex couples in the manner specified in this ruling; there is also opposition to the normalisation of same-sex relationships.