I see the European Parliament has adopted a resolution criticising legislation in Lithuania that, from March 2010, will ban the discussion of homosexuality in schools and any reference to homosexuality in public information that can be viewed by children.
This is so reminiscent of Section 28.
Non-Brits will be interested to know what that is, although it’s been referred to as just that for so long that they probably have a good idea.
It was a section of the Local Government Act of 1988, and it effectively banned the so-called “promotion” of homosexuality within local-authority institutions.
No one, as far as I know, was ever prosecuted under it, but it caused a lot of self-censorship. It was a nasty, vicious piece of legislation that was invented by the Tories. No surprise there. They’ve changed their tune a bit now, although one suspects it’s as much for political expediency as for a genuine wish to see equality.
People seem to think that something they don’t like – in this case the natural phenomenon of same-sex attraction – can somehow be stamped out if we just don’t talk about it.
It’s going to take some brave campaigners in Lithuania to prove them wrong.
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Saturday, 19 September 2009
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