Lithuanian Army Weeds Out The Gays By Asking New Recruits If They Like Flowers

Flowers and military service don’t mix? Lithuanian army claims they have tests to identify gays: Decline men who like flowers.

The Lithuanian army has reintroduced compulsory military draft this year, and randomly selected candidates will have to report to a military recruitment office in order to be screened for suitability for military service. According to the Lithuania Tribune, that screening includes a psychological test that can identify whether or not someone is gay. The paper states that one of the questions “allegedly enquires whether the candidate likes picking flowers and whether he has ever considered a career in the floral industry. Another question asks if a male candidate has ever desired to be a woman.”

When asked if the questions were intended to determine the candidate’s sexual orientation, KÄ™stutis Ramanauskas, a psychiatrist at a military recruitment office in KlaipÄ—da, western Lithuania simply said, “You hit the bullseye.” He then went on to explain that he uses the test to screen out homosexual men.

“After reviewing initial data supplied by the [psychological] test, I try to analyse the person more thoroughly.” Ramanauskas said. “I use it as a criteria to screen them out. Even though it is claimed that it [homosexuality] is not a disease, but it is. Wrong orientation is a psycho-behavioural disorder. Even though some disagree. But a person like that will be bullied in the army, he will not be able to serve out the nine-month term.”

In response to the media comments about the psychological tests, Lithuania’s Minister of Defence, Juozas Olekas, claimed, “Our laws and decrees do not include any discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. The army is open to both heterosexual and homosexual individuals, we do not reject troops fit to serve in Lithuania’s Armed Forces by the principle.”

Other countries have tried to utilize ridiculous “gay testing” measures in the past. In 2012, Lebanon made national headlines after 36 men were required to pay for mandatory anal probe exams to determine if they “tested positive” for gay sex. In 2013, Kuwait received criticism from across the globe when they announced they would be conducting medical screening tests to “detect” homosexuals who attempted to enter the Gulf kingdom.

In case you had any doubts, there is no medically proven test that can determine if someone is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. 

 

Image by tiffany terry via Flickr and a CC license