Vatican Censors Irish Catholic Priest Who Wrote That Homosexuality “Simple A Facet Of Human The Condition,” Lithuania Legislature Advances Law That Punish “Public Promotion Of Homosexual Relations,” One Year After Anti-Gay Attack Family Of Murdered Nigel Price Ask For Help In Locating Suspects

An Irish Catholic priest, Father Owen O’Sullivan, has been banned by the Vatican from publishing any more of writing after an article authored by O’Sullivan appeared in the March edition of Furrow magazine that argued homosexuality is “simply a facet of the human condition,” reports the Irish Times. O’Sullivan commented on the church’s teaching that homosexuality is unnatural, writing that “nature is a loose peg on which to hang a theology of human relationships,” writing that throughout history “same sex attraction and acts have been a consistent feature of human life.” The church, he argued, says it is not wrong to be gay, “but it is wrong to act gay,” and that, according to O’Sullivan, is akin to someone saying “There’s nothing wrong with being Irish ... but that doesn’t mean you may act on it.”

Friday, the Lithuanian parliament voted to proceed with legislation that would impose fines for the “public promotion of homosexual relations,” 31 legislators voting for and 7 voting against, according to a report by EU Business. There are 141 members of parliament in total, the remaining 103 legislators abstaining from the vote. To become law, the bill requires 36 votes, and a second reading is scheduled for December. Vytautas Valentinavicius, the head of the Vilnius-based equal rights and social development centre, said “Such a law would prohibit public events like Baltic Pride. In this vote, lawmakers showed their attitude towards human rights and European values.” Petras Grazulis, the legislator who authored the draft legislation, told reporters after the vote “Any evil cannot be propagated. Such events like gay parades do great harm to children.”

From the Independent, a report on the still unsolved murder of 58 year old Nigel Price, found collapsed and partial clothed suffering serious head injuries on Southampton Common the morning of November 14th, 2009. The attack left Price in critical condition and in a semi-comatose state, Price dying March 23rd, 2010 having never recovered. A year later, Hampshire police and area Crimestoppers are offering a reward, his brother Tony calling on any witnesses or anyone with information to come forward and put the “family’s mind at rest.” Police believe that Price, who was openly gay, was the victim of an anti-gay attack. Tony Price adds that his brother “was basically a kind-hearted man who would do anything for you. It was a terrible shock and we were all very upset to think something like this could happen to him. We now just want to know what happened and help bring those who did this to justice.”