Lithuania reverses course on gay information ban

by Rex Wockner

Originally printed 7/21/2011 (Issue 1929 - Between The Lines News)

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Lithuania's Parliament has banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in advertising.

The move was a turnaround from earlier drafts of the same bill, which banned homosexual topics in advertising.

The new language says that "advertising and audiovisual commercial communications must not publish information that humiliates human dignity, discriminating or encouraging discrimination based on ... sexual orientation."

The Lithuanian Gay League credited MP Valentinas Stundys and Deputy Speaker Algis Caplikas with engineering the about-face.

The European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights applauded the development.

"This is a powerful message sent by Lithuania's legislature, both to its people and to the rest of the EU," said Intergroup Co-President Ulrike Lunacek. "However, we remain concerned that the Law on the Protection of Minors from the Detrimental Effects of Public Information is still in place, and that a ban of gender reassignment surgery was recently proposed."

The "detrimental effects" law, which took effect in March 2010, bans information that promotes sexual relationships, "denigrates family values" or encourages a non-heterosexual concept of marriage and family.

Such information is prohibited when it could be accessed by a minor, such as in magazines and libraries and on the Internet.

Amnesty International said the law promotes censorship and "is an anachronism in the European Union." It also appears to be in conflict with the new advertising law.

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