On March 15th, 2016 Rokas Žilinskas, a member of the Lithuanian Parliament and one of the proposers of the draft Law on the Strengthening of Family, reacted to a “Facebook” post by the National LGBT* rights organization LGL on the project proposal: “Lithuanian Gay League once again failed with its public relations in their own unique way. I have sinned for my own strain, since me and my colleagues proposed a draft law on family protection, which argues that the complementarity of a man and a woman is the foundation of a family as the primary and inalienable community and a basis for favorable child’s growth, environmental and educational development.”
“So what seems to be wrong and reprehensible here? Do they really think that homosexuality automatically determines the model of a person’s behavior, according to which the person is supposed to automatically criticize everything that is non-homosexual? I believe that such way of thinking is what prevents them from becoming a part of a society,” continued the only openly gay member of the Lithuanian Parliament and the Conservative Party.
The National LGBT* rights organization LGL expresses its grave concern regarding the remarks made by the member of the Lithuanian Parliament Mr. Žilinskas. We believe that the foundation of family and the basis for favorable child’s growth is love and respect, irrespective of a person’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Furthermore, we are certain that recognition of family diversity would contribute to the protection of family and tendencies of social inclusion of LGBT* persons in Lithuania.
