Vilnius, LITHUANIA, 8 October 2010
In his homophobic speech delivered to the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) on 28 September 2010, member of Parliament Petras Gražulis declared that LGBT individuals are “unhappy people, who have a degeneration of one type or another,” saying that “our children are being mutilated” by the presence of homosexuality within Lithuania. Gražulis, member of the Order and Justice Political group within Seimas, gave this speech in a Parliamentary hearing with regards to the legal resolution for the establishment of Seimas Provisional Investigation Commission for permission to prosecute member of Seimas Petras Gražulis” [Project XIP-2282(3)]. Prosecutor General turned to Seimas and asked for permission for prosecution after the criminal actions of MPs Gražulis and Uoka on 8 May 2010 at the Baltic Pride march for equality in Vilnius, Lithuania. If successful, this permission would suspend the legal immunity that Gražulis and Uoka holds as Members of Parliament.
These remarks from Gražulis during the hearing about his immunity come at a time when Seimas is debating discriminatory legislation that could potentially result grave consequences for society as a whole. Addressing the Parliament, which will come to a decision about the suspension of his immunity at the end of October, Gražulis questioned the role of tolerance and acceptance of LGBT individuals throughout much of the European Union and the United States. Gražulis claimed that sexual diversity is “a trend that is destroying the certain values that have been formed in our State over the centuries…as through by a whirlwind, by the European Union.” He asked his fellow Parliamentarians,
“Tell me, at least one of you, do you want your children to become degenerates, a homosexual, a lesbian or something like this—are there any such members of the Seimas here? But you tolerate all this propaganda, which comes from the decaying West. Just consider what is happening. The Seimas had taken a decision already, but we are coming back to this issue again. Why? Is this not pressure from the homosexuals themselves? Is this not pressure from the Ambassadors of America, Sweden, France and all other the states represented in our country? Don ’t they destroy the foundations of our State?”
Indubitably, the comments made throughout the entire speech delivered by Gražulis are ignorant of the academic understanding, accepted by scholars and researchers worldwide, that homosexuality is not a choice or trend, and that homosexuality is normal and natural, not a mental or physical disease: on 17 May, 1990, the General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from their list of mental disorders.
