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Human Rights
One Step Foward, One Step Back
Pink News (in the UK) is reporting on the Lithuanian law that was passed past week that "bans the promotion of gay marriage". Yep - just mentioning gay marriage in Lithuania can get you into trouble now.
The law now classifies any information which "denigrates family values" or which "encourages a concept of marriage and family other than stipulated in the Constitution" as detrimental to children and bans it from places accessible to them.
John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's expert on discrimination, said: "This law will violate the freedom of expression and will directly discriminate against people on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity".
And what is the punishment for breaking the law? No one knows because the law does not define the punishment.
So just as Fiji decriminalised homosexuality, Lithuania takes a backward step.