by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, approved a measure on first reading June 4 that bans references to homosexuality in schools and in public information that can be visible to children. The bill still has to clear a final vote.
The tally was 57-2 with eight abstentions. Many MPs missed the vote.
Amnesty International said the "Law on the Protection of Minors Against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information" would classify "homosexuality alongside issues such as … the display of a dead or cruelly mutilated body of a person, and information that arouses fear or horror, or encourages self-mutilation or suicide."
Nicola Duckworth, Amnesty's Europe and Central Asia program director, said the proposed law "denies the right to freedom of expression and deprives students' access to the support and protection they may need."
