The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas,
has approved amendments to a controversial law, stripping out
provisions that banned the “promotion of homosexuality,” the AFP
reported.
Tuesday's 58 to 4 vote, with 25
abstentions, was prompted by loud cries from national and
international rights groups – who called the bill “homophobic”
– and Lithuania's President Dali Grybauskaite.
The law approved by lawmakers in July
would have barred the “public dissemination” of information
favorable to being gay. Proponents argued that the law was necessary
because positive images of gay people would physically and mentally
harm children.
Critics say the law's broad language
effectively bans any discussion of being gay except in a negative
context, effectively legislating homophobia.
The new language introduced Tuesday
bans information “encouraging the sexual abuse of minors, sexual
relations between minors and other sexual relations.”
The changes, however, failed to mollify
opponents, who said the amended law remains anti-gay because it
outlaws the promotion of “any concept of the family other than that
set down in the constitution,” which defines marriage as a
heterosexual union.
“From now on, any of our public
events could fall under that clause and be banned,” Vladimir
Simonko, head of the Lithuanian
Gay League, told the news agency.
The law is set to go into effect in
March.