Lithuanian lawmakers have rejected a proposal to scrap an existing ban on informing minors about LGBTQ+ relations and anything “denigrating family values”.
The provision, which has been in the Law on the Protection of Minors from the Harmful Effects of Public Information since 2009, has been challenged at the European Court of Human Rights and deemed in violation to the right of free expression.
Fifty-six MPs voted against changing the law, while 50 supported the amendment drafted by the Justice Ministry and 19 abstained.
The opposition mostly voted against the bill, except for four members. The entire group of the liberal Freedom Party, part of the ruling block, unanimously voted in favour, while some of their coalition partners in the conservative Homeland Union (TS-LKD) party opposed the bill.
The proposed amendment would have removed the provision saying that any information that “denigrates family values, promotes a different concept of marriage and family formation from that enshrined in the Constitution and the Civil Code” is harmful to minors.
The Lithuanian Constitution says that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
“Hungary currently has similar regulation, and the European Commission has not only found an infringement, but has also filed a lawsuit,” Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska said when introducing the amendment.
The Justice Ministry drafted the bill after the ECHR ruled that Lithuania’s Protection of Minors Law violated the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on freedom of expression.
‘Disappointed’
Agnė Širinskienė, a member of the non-attached political group known for her socially conservative and anti-LGBTQ+ positions, called the justice minister’s arguments in favour of the bill “a party of lies and liars”.
“The adoption of this bill is not necessary for the implementation of the ECHR ruling,” she insisted.
“Neither denigrating, nor promotion amount to simple provision of information. What the minister is doing now, by wanting to remove this restriction, is in fact allowing denigrating family values in front of children, encouraging children to enter into different marriages, homosexual marriages,” Širinskienė argued before the vote.
Meanwhile, Andrius Mazuronis, leader of the opposition Labour Party, also said that the ECHR’s decision could be implemented without changing the law.
“I think that we have a very simple practice in lawmaking: if you can leave a law unchanged, if its provisions do not pose any practical difficulties in implementation, then you simply do not need to change them,” the politician said.
In a Facebook post after the vote, Justice Minister Dobrowolska said “the Seimas has disappointed a lot of people today because this bill has never had such broad support as it has today”.
“Writers and translators have expressed concern about the right to expression, psychologists have talked about the emotional state of our society and bullying that continues to be instigated, and, of course, there’s concern among members of the LGBTQ+ community who are only seeking equal rights. It is not surprising that the Seimas is shy to loudly declare at home what Lithuania has consistently supported in all EU formats: that homosexual citizens are equal, their families are families and their love is love,” the minister said.
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