VILNIUS — Both Lithuanians and foreigners are making their voice heard in the fight against the the new law on the protection of minors, which has been dubbed homophobic.

The Swedish Minister for EU affairs, Birgitte Ohlsson Thursday declared that she would be taking part in the Vilnius gay pride parade, which will march on May 8.

Ohlsson told journalists that she would fight for the rights of homosexuals in [private_supervisor]Lithuania, not because she particularly supported the homosexual movement, but because she sees gay rights as human rights.

The Swedish embassy confirmed to Baltic Reports that she would take part in the march.

Viktor Simonko, head of the Lithuanian Gay League, told Baltic Reports that the march would be the gay community’s opportunity to show its attitude toward government. He said that many gays live in the closet and hoped that the parade might give them the confidence to come out.

“We will use this parade to declare our position [to the government] about this law. When society is so homophobic it is difficult to declare homosexuality and take actions — a lot of people are in the closet. In the near future things will be the same. When people are in the closet, you cant get real action,” he said urging people to join the parade.

Simonko said Lithuania is a heavily Catholic country that wasn’t up to date about gay issues. Politicians use this uneducated portion of society to manipulate polls and gain popularity, he said.

“In this country, you can do what you want and human rights is zero. For politicians they can work with the homophobia and if the EU didn’t take notice, there would be laws here like in Russia or Belarus,” he said.

New law

The law on the protection of minors was designed to protect children from potentially harmful images, but came to international attention when it had a clause included prohibiting the discussion of the topic of homosexuality. Following international censure and a European parliament resolution, the sections explicitly to gays were removed.

However, it was too little, too late says Simonko.

“Nobody knows what will be with this law because it is quite fresh, but of course we need to keep in mind that for society this law already declared that homosexuality is bad, even if it doesn t explicitly mention homosexuality. The publicity the law got was so big and it made the point that being gay it is bad. It is bad for the LGBT corner in Lithuania.”

The LGBT community fears that the law may still be used against them because it has a clause in it forbidding any promotion of non-traditional family models.

“In the new law, homosexuality isn’t mentioned but there is a clause about traditional families so in the school, you cant talk about non traditional relationships,” Simonko said.

Recenlty crowned woman of the year and human rights activist Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė said Wednesday that the new law was observed and begged Lithunians to realise human rights for homosexuals in Lithuania. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]Lithuania, not because she particularly supported the homosexual movement, but because she sees gay rights as human rights.

The Swedish embassy confirmed to Baltic Reports that she would take part in the march.

Viktor Simonko, head of the Lithuanian Gay League, told Baltic Reports that the march next week would be the gay community’s opportunity to show its attitude toward government. He said that many gays live in the closet and hoped that the parade might give them the confidence to come out.

“We will use this parade to declare our position [to the government] about this law. When society is so homophobic it is difficult to declare homosexuality and take actions — a lot of people are in the closet. In the near future things will be the same. When people are in the closet, you cant get real action,” he said urging people to join the parade.

Simonko said Lithuania is a heavily Catholic country that wasn’t up to date about gay issues. Politicians use this uneducated portion of society to manipulate polls and gain popularity, he said.

“In this country, you can do what you want and human rights is zero. For politicians they can work with the homophobia and if the EU didn’t take notice, there would be laws here like in Russia or Belarus,” he said.

New law

The law on the protection of minors was designed to protect children from potentially harmful images, but came to international attention when it had a clause included prohibiting the discussion of the topic of homosexuality. Following international censure and a European parliament resolution, the sections explicitly to gays were removed.

However, it was too little, too late says Simonko.

“Nobody knows what will be with this law because it is quite fresh, but of course we need to keep in mind that for society this law already declared that homosexuality is bad, even if it doesn t explicitly mention homosexuality. The publicity the law got was so big and it made the point that being gay it is bad. It is bad for the LGBT corner in Lithuania.”

The LGBT community fears that the law may still be used against them because it has a clause in it forbidding any promotion of non-traditional family models.

“In the new law, homosexuality isn’t mentioned but there is a clause about traditional families so in the school, you cant talk about non traditional relationships,” Simonko said.

Recenlty crowned woman of the year and human rights activist Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė said Wednesday that the new law was observed and begged Lithunians to realise human rights for homosexuals in Lithuania. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]Lithuania, not because she particularly supported the homosexual movement, but because she sees gay rights as human rights.

The Swedish embassy confirmed to Baltic Reports that she would take part in the march.

Viktor Simonko, head of the Lithuanian Gay League, told Baltic Reports that the march next week would be the gay community’s opportunity to show its attitude toward government. He said that many gays live in the closet and hoped that the parade might give them the confidence to come out.

“We will use this parade to declare our position [to the government] about this law. When society is so homophobic it is difficult to declare homosexuality and take actions — a lot of people are in the closet. In the near future things will be the same. When people are in the closet, you cant get real action,” he said urging people to join the parade.

Simonko said Lithuania is a heavily Catholic country that wasn’t up to date about gay issues. Politicians use this uneducated portion of society to manipulate polls and gain popularity, he said.

“In this country, you can do what you want and human rights is zero. For politicians they can work with the homophobia and if the EU didn’t take notice, there would be laws here like in Russia or Belarus,” he said.

New law

The law on the protection of minors was designed to protect children from potentially harmful images, but came to international attention when it had a clause included prohibiting the discussion of the topic of homosexuality. Following international censure and a European parliament resolution, the sections explicitly to gays were removed.

However, it was too little, too late says Simonko.

“Nobody knows what will be with this law because it is quite fresh, but of course we need to keep in mind that for society this law already declared that homosexuality is bad, even if it doesn t explicitly mention homosexuality. The publicity the law got was so big and it made the point that being gay it is bad. It is bad for the LGBT corner in Lithuania.”

The LGBT community fears that the law may still be used against them because it has a clause in it forbidding any promotion of non-traditional family models.

“In the new law, homosexuality isn’t mentioned but there is a clause about traditional families so in the school, you cant talk about non traditional relationships,” Simonko said.

Recenlty crowned woman of the year and human rights activist Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė said Wednesday that the new law was observed and begged Lithunians to realise human rights for homosexuals in Lithuania. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]Lithuania, not because she particularly supported the homosexual movement, but because she sees gay rights as human rights.

The Swedish embassy confirmed to Baltic Reports that she would take part in the march.

Viktor Simonko, head of the Lithuanian Gay League, told Baltic Reports that the march next week would be the gay community’s opportunity to show its attitude toward government. He said that many gays live in the closet and hoped that the parade might give them the confidence to come out.

“We will use this parade to declare our position [to the government] about this law. When society is so homophobic it is difficult to declare homosexuality and take actions — a lot of people are in the closet. In the near future things will be the same. When people are in the closet, you cant get real action,” he said urging people to join the parade.

Simonko said Lithuania is a heavily Catholic country that wasn’t up to date about gay issues. Politicians use this uneducated portion of society to manipulate polls and gain popularity, he said.

“In this country, you can do what you want and human rights is zero. For politicians they can work with the homophobia and if the EU didn’t take notice, there would be laws here like in Russia or Belarus,” he said.

New law

The law on the protection of minors was designed to protect children from potentially harmful images, but came to international attention when it had a clause included prohibiting the discussion of the topic of homosexuality. Following international censure and a European parliament resolution, the sections explicitly to gays were removed.

However, it was too little, too late says Simonko.

“Nobody knows what will be with this law because it is quite fresh, but of course we need to keep in mind that for society this law already declared that homosexuality is bad, even if it doesn t explicitly mention homosexuality. The publicity the law got was so big and it made the point that being gay it is bad. It is bad for the LGBT corner in Lithuania.”

The LGBT community fears that the law may still be used against them because it has a clause in it forbidding any promotion of non-traditional family models.

“In the new law, homosexuality isn’t mentioned but there is a clause about traditional families so in the school, you cant talk about non traditional relationships,” Simonko said.

Recenlty crowned woman of the year and human rights activist Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė said Wednesday that the new law was observed and begged Lithunians to realise human rights for homosexuals in Lithuania. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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