Klaipėda district mayor Bronius Markauskas says that he himself will not support the initiative of the Lithuanian Family Movement to adopt a declaration “On stopping genderism propaganda and LGBTQ+ ideology in the municipality” and will urge his colleagues not to support it as well, BNS reports.

Lithuanian Family Movement  (Lietuvos šeimų sąjūdis) is a non-governmental organization closely allied with similar forces in Hungary and Ordo Iuris in Poland, certain evidence suggests the latter’s possible ties with Kremlin. Hungary and Lithuania also remain the only European Union Member States that have Russian-style “Anti-Gay propaganda” provisions.

Similar declarations have previously been submitted to the Councils of Prienai District and Marijampolė, where they were rejected. Raimondas Grinevičius, the head of the Lithuanian Family Movement, told BNS earlier that similar declarations are planned to be submitted to the councils of Kaunas district, Šilalė, Šilutė and Pagėgiai.

Member of Klaipeda City Council Viktoras Kura, elected as a representative of the Union of People and Justice, announced his intention to submit such a declaration on Facebook, but so far, according to the municipality, no such proposal has been received.

As Kura announced on social media, the declaration aims to express opposition to “the aggressive promotion of homosexuality, transgenderism and genderist ‘social gender choice’ in schools, (…) the early sexualisation of children in schools under the guise of sex education, (. …) the pressure for the promotion of genderism, transgenderism and LGBT ideology, (…) the decline of moral norms and the destruction of the natural, healthy model of the family, the school and the society by socio-technical practices”.

He urged them to talk to elected politicians to vote in favour of the declaration they promise to submit in August.

B. Markauskas, for his part, stressed that this declaration was not a municipal initiative, but a proposal by one Members of the Council. It has not been registered this week, but if it is submitted for registration, the mayor said, it will have to be assessed by lawyers to clarify whether such a draft decision is in line with other legislation and can even be discussed.

He said that he did not approve of such initiatives and considered that such decisions were not, in principle, within the remit of the municipality.

“The municipal council cannot impose or take on more obligations than are regulated by other laws, and the education process in schools is organised in accordance with the Education Act and other by-laws,” the mayor said.

Klaipėda is a place “that opens up horizons for those who live here and those who come here”, he said.

“We seek cooperation with Western countries, we seek to attract investors, to create a safe and comfortable life for all. I value every person, every inhabitant of Klaipėda district and I do not tolerate any kind of discrimination,” the Mayor said.