Lithuania is spending money for the formation of its image. However, questions are being raised if international companies will invest money into such a homophobic country, where nationalistic inclined youth shouts “Lithuania- for Lithuanians”; where parliamentarians and other politicians are protesting against a homosexual parade; and where people of a darker skin tone experience violence.

The May 8th parade has received a lot of attention from its proponents and its opponents. Both, are trying to portray the other side negatively. Members of Seimas are stressing that the parade is bad, that there should be no sexual minorities parades in Lithuania and so on. The other side, the organizers of the

Petras Grazulis asked me to sign an address to the Prosecutor General’s office to ban the gay parade and I signed it. Besides, I personally don’t like it. What is this, half-naked men running around covered in paint. Is this normal? Normal people do not organize parades such as this. I understand parades where people

Over 50 Lithuanian parliamentarians, including many from the two leading parties in the governing coalition, have signed a petition calling for the 2010 Baltic Pride march to be banned. The march is currently scheduled to take place in Vilnius on 8 May. The organizers of the Baltic Pride received authorization for the march from the

To: Irena Degutienė, Speaker of the Seimas; Petras Gražulis, Member of the Seimas Concerns: Parliamentary petition to ban Baltic Pride in Vilnius Reference: 20100317/BS Brussels, 17th March 2010 Mrs Speaker, Hon. Mr Gražulis, We write to you not in defiance or anger, but in sadness following the decision by Mr Gražulis to attempt to cancel

“Last week the Ministry of Interior received a call from the ambassador of Netherlands, who, on behalf of the Netherlands and ambassadors from three other countries- United States, Great Britain, and Spain- expressed an interest in meeting with the leadership of the Ministry to discuss the upcoming parade of  sexual minorities,” Mr. S. Liutkevičius, Vice-Minister

BRUSSELS, 16th March 2010 — Only two weeks after the enactment of a controversial Law on the Protection of Minors in Lithuania, Members of the Parliament seek to ban an international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride event due to take place in Vilnius on the 8th May 2010. Municipal authorities authorised the three-nation Baltic

Information prepared in English by LGL, 15 03 2010 On Wednesday, a group of parliamentarians lodged a petition with the Prosecution Office regarding the permit issued by the Vilnius municipal government administration to hold a parade for sexual minorities at the beginning of May. According to Petras Gražulis who announced the petition, it was signed

The Brazilian Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite and Transsexual (LGBT) Association (Associação Brasileira de Gays, Lésbicas, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais or ABGLT) recently launched an “LGBT Communication Manual” aimed at communication professionals, students and teachers to reduce the use of inappropriate language that prejudices, or perpetuates misunderstandings about the millions Brazilian LGBT people and their supporters.

The Swedish minister for EU affairs Birgitta Ohlsson says she would participate in Vilnius’ gay pride parade in May, the Baltic News Service reported on Thursday. Ohlsson, who is currently on a working visit to Lithuania, said she would be delivering a speech at the event. “I will be among those participants who will give

BRUSSELS, 1 March 2010 — The Lithuanian Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effects of Public Information is entering into force today. The law bars ‘minors’ from receiving information about any type of sexual relationships, and seeks to protect the ‘traditional’ concept of family defined by the Constitution as based on the

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE 26 February 2010 Amnesty International calls on the authorities of Lithuania to remove all restrictions on the distribution of public information relating to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people decreed in a new law. The controversial “Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of