A Vilnius regional court on Tuesday fined European Parliament member Petras Gražulis €10,000 for making derogatory statements about the LGBTQI+ community.
“The district court has just issued a verdict finding Mr Gražulis guilty of the criminal offence charged,” Judge Audrius Cininas said after delivering the ruling.
The court determined that Gražulis’ language, used in Lithuania’s parliament, was unacceptable in that setting and in the manner he employed it. Prosecutors had requested the specific fine.
The court also awarded compensation to three individuals affected by the remarks: €2,000 to Mantas Meškeris, €3,000 to Mantas Mackevič, and €284 to Rasa Račienė for non-material damages, in addition to legal costs.
While Gražulis argued that his statements were expressions of opinion or rooted in religious beliefs, the court ruled that even opinions cannot be expressed in a degrading, humiliating, or discriminatory manner.
The words he used – including “pederasts”, “degenerates”, “perverts”, and “spreaders of venereal diseases” – were deemed not as political arguments but as attacks on human dignity based on sexual orientation.
Judge Cininas said, “Anyone can intuitively understand that the language used by Mr Gražulis […] is unacceptable not only in parliament but in any normal, secular, and civilised environment.”
The court noted that Gražulis’ statements did not directly call for violence but clearly spread discriminatory ideas and contributed to a climate of hatred. Evidence included video recordings and witness testimony. His comments reverberated online, amplifying harm to both specific individuals and the broader LGBTQI+ community.
The ruling cited European Court of Human Rights precedent, noting that discriminatory and degrading statements are not protected under freedom of expression, especially when made by a public official whose words carry significant societal weight.
Gražulis’ actions were deemed intentional; he knew he was addressing members of the LGBTQI+ community and that media were recording, yet he chose to use deliberately derogatory language.
The court also considered that Gražulis has no prior convictions and currently holds an elected office, resulting in the lightest available sanction – a fine, albeit above the minimum, due to the severity of the offence and its impact.
Gražulis was accused of making the statements on May 26, 2022, following a parliamentary session discussing a civil union bill. His trial was initially paused after his election to the European Parliament granted him legal immunity, which was later lifted in May 2025 at the request of the prosecutor general.
Gražulis expects help from Donald Trump
After hearing the ruling, gražulis said he will appeal the court’s decision and plans to seek help from former US President Donald Trump.
“During the Soviet era, US President Ronald Reagan helped free me and other political prisoners from the labour camps. Since I served as Trump’s campaign chief in Lithuania, I will turn to President Trump to save me again from these so-called democratic courts,” Gražulis told reporters after the hearing.
He accused Lithuania’s judiciary of abandoning justice. “The courts are mocking justice. They did it under the communist system, and now they’re doing it under the genderist one,” he said.
Gražulis said he believes Trump would support him because they share similar views, including the belief that there are only two genders. “I think he will support me. He said there are only two genders, not 107 or however many you think there are,” he said.
Gražulis said he will appeal to the Court of Appeal of Lithuania and, if necessary, to the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
“The court ruled that in the world’s most democratic country, Lithuania, one cannot quote the Holy Bible if it offends homosexuals,” Gražulis said.
Gražulis said he intends to pay the fine himself but did not rule out accepting donations from supporters.
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