On Wednesday, Committee on Education, Science and Culture (CESC) did not approve
amendment which proposed public information which encourages homosexual,
bisexual relations or polygamy to treat as having detrimental effect on
minors.
This amendment proposed by member of the Conservative Party Gintaras
Songaila was approved by the Seimas in the discussion of the draft of the Law,
but as this amendment changed the draft essentially, it was returned to discuss
it over to the Committee on Education, Science and Culture.
In the second discussion of the draft CESC did not approve this
amendment, called as homophobic by critics, but approved prohibition of
information which encourages any sexual relations.
This amendment goes further than in the version proposed by working
group of the President Dalia Grybauskaite – it was suggested to prohibit
information encouraging sexual relations between minors.
On Wednesday, for amendment suggested by G. Songaila voted 2 members of
the CESC, 1 was against, 4 abstained.
At that time, amendment suggested by
representative of the United Lithuania Polical Group Mantas Varaska which
proposed that public information which encourages any sexual relations should be
treated as having detrimental effect on minors, was approved by 7 members of the
CESC voting for.
G. Songaila argued that this amendment is insufficient, because it applies
only to sexual relations, and for minors, in his opinion, information, which
encourages other then traditional relation between people of different sexes,
and not only sexual, should be inaccessible.
Earlier than this, CESC in the discussion of the draft of the Law on
the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information
added to it prohibition to spread to the minors information, which encourages
other than officially recognized family conception.
The President proposed the amendment on information which reviles
family values to treat it as having detrimental effect on minors, and CESC
supplemented it by adding to it information which encourages “other conception
of marriage and family creation than in the Constitution and Civil Code”.
According to the Constitution, marriage is based on free agreement
between a man and a woman, family is recognized as foundation of the society and
state, but it doesn’t give the exact definition of what it should be. There is
no family definition in the Civil Code either, but in the chapter on law which
applies to legal family relations there are rights and obligations of spouses,
children and parents stated. The Seimas has approved Family Conception,
according to which only married couples are recognized as families.
