Veselka: gay parades equal “butt philosophy”

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

Dialogue between Baltic Pride 2010 organizers and Vilnius County Police begins

“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

Power of words: Brazil LGBT launch guide for media

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.

Swedish minister to take part in Baltic Pride 2010 in Vilnius

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

Lithuanian law on the ‘protection’ of minors enters the statute book

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

Homophobic law to enter into force in Lithuania

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

Strasbourg 17.02.2010 – The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, published today letters sent to the Prime Minister of Lithuania and to the Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) on discrimination issues, minority rights and steps taken to investigate whether the CIA detained terrorist suspects on Lithuanian territory. The letters follow the Commissioner’s

European Parliament reaffirms LGBT rights are a condition to join the European Union

Today the plenary session of the European Parliament adopted reports on the accession to the European Union for Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. All three reports call on candidate countries to provide genuine protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender minorities, and remind candidate countries that the protection of all minorities