By Eduardas Platovas, LGL Vilnius

Lithuanian Ministry Of Justice published a revised version of the new draft Penal Code. Article 160 "Discrimination on the basis of nationality, race, sex, origin, religion or other group membership" provides for imprisonment of up to 3 years for "acts, which were aimed to prevent population group or its member to participate equally in political, economical, social, cultural or work activity because of their nationality, race, sex, sexual orientation, origin, religion or other group membership". Although the authors omit "sexual orientation" in the article's title it is included in the text for the first time in the legal history of the country.

Article 161 of the draft document "Instigation against national, racial, ethnic, religious or other population group" provides for up to 3 years imprisonment for persons and companies which jeer, disdain or otherwise show bias towards belonging to national, racial, ethnic, religious or other population group. Lithuanian Vice-Minister`of Justice Gintaras Svedas told BNS news agency , that notion "other population group" also comprises sexual minorities.

Earlier Vice-Minister of Justice also acknowledged that under the current Penal Code of Lithuania the age of consent for heterosexuals and lesbians is 16 and for gay men 18 years of age. "Such regulation has also caused criticism of Lithuanian lawyers - a voluntary satisfaction of sexual lust between pubescent men can not be rated as a crime, since in this case there is no violation of sexual self-determination or inviolability" Vice-Minister Gintaras Svedas wrote in his explanation to European Committee of Seimas (Parliament). He told BNS news agency, that the new draft Penal Code does not contain such discriminatory regulation.

The first draft of the new Penal Code (published in 1996) did not include "sexual orientation", "other group" or related terms to protect lesbians and gays. Lithuanian Gay League responded to Parliament and Government institutions with non-discriminatory legislation campaign supported by mainstream media.

It is expected that the new Penal Code will be adopted by the Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament) this year. Hopefully, the provisions to protect lesbians and gays will be passed although they might be opposed by the Conservative and Christian Democrat majority coalition.

Another Vice-Minister of Justice Rasa Budbergyte recently commented on same sex marriages. She said, that Lithuanian society is not ready to accept same sex marriages. A new draft of the Civil Code specifically bans same sex marriage by Article 3.12 of book 3 "Ban to marry for same sex persons".

"The majority of people in Lithuania are Roman Catholics and maintain antagonistic attitude towards homosexuality", she told BNS.

Lithuanian gays claim discrimination to US diplomats

VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS - Lithuanian gays have complained about discrimination against homosexuals in Lithuania, as the Justice Ministry official finds the complaints not entirely substantiated.

The Lithuanian Gay League (LGL) representatives have met with the US embassy political department officers in Vilnius to voice their complaints about discrimination against them.

The meeting took place on 21st July although the LGL has disclosed this only this week.

According to the LGL, for a report to the US Congress annual report on human rights in the world which currently is being drawn up, the representatives of the league described their view on the situation of gay people in this country.

The LGL representatives told the US embassy officials that discrimination would be effectively legalized in the new Family Code which says that marriage between the same sex is banned.

"The government is openly ignoring problems of citizens of this country of homosexual orientation, and is not planning to solve them in accordance with the EU practice," the LGL report reads.

However, the deputy Justice Minister, Rasa Budbergyte, maintains that no ES instruction compels either the EU member countries or its candidate-countries to legalize marriage of persons of the same sex.

The majority of people in Lithuania are Roman Catholics and maintain antagonistic attitude towards homosexuality.

At the same time, Budbergyte admitted that some of the concepts in the Criminal Code currently in effect are discriminatory against gays and gave assurances that these concepts had been removed from the new draft Code.

She expressed a hope that the new Criminal Code would be approved by the parliament not later than next summer.

Baltic News Service

European Parliament adopts urgency resolution on equal rights for gays and lesbians in the EU

Lithuania among the countries concerned

17 September 1998, the European Parliament adopted with a majority of 110 against 89 votes (6 abstentions) a resolution reaffirming the Parliament's defence of the human rights of gays and lesbians. The resolution was motivated by the refusal, during the past few months, of the Parliaments of Cyprus, Romania and Austria to bring their anti-homosexual legislation in line with European human rights standards as demanded both by  the EP in various previous resolutions and by the human rights organs of the Council of Europe.

In this resolution, the EP firmly expressed its refusal to "give its consent to the accession of any country that, through its legislation or policies, violates the human rights of lesbians and gay men". The countries concerned are Cyprus, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, and Lithuania.

The Commission has been called upon to take into consideration respect and observance of the human rights of gays and lesbians when negotiating the accession of applicant countries.

Additionally, the EP calls upon Austria to immediately repeal Article 209 of the penal code, which provides for a discriminatory age of consent for gay men, and to immediately provide for an amnesty for, and the release from prison of, all persons jailed under this law. This is especially embarrassing for Austria since this country is currently holding the presidency of the EU for the second half of 1998.

"The adoption of this resolution is a big success for the European lesbian and gay movement", comments Kurt Krickler, co-chair of ILGA-Europe, the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, who followed the debate and vote in Strasbourg on Thursday. "After a similar motion for a resolution had failed last July due to the lack of support from the Socialdemocratic group in the EP, ILGA-Europe and member groups in most of the 15 EU countries had carried out a joint and obviously effective lobbying campaign towards the Socialdemocratic members of the EP in the various countries so that the PSE group in the EP finally changed its mind. We are especially grateful to the liberal group (ELDR) and the Green group which was courageous enough to retable the motion after the failure in July, and also to those groups which joined the motion, e.g. the the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, the radical group (ARE) and the PSE.

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