President returns amendments to Parliament

  • 2006-06-21
  • By TBT staff
RIGA - President Vaira Vike-Freiberga has asked Parliament to revise the amendments to the Labor Law passed last week, which allowed for the discrimination of employees on the grounds of their sexual orientation.
In a letter to Parliament Speaker Ingrida Udre, Vike-Freiberga wrote that a person's right to employment is not tied with his or her private life, which is protected by the Constitution.
"Considering the above-mentioned, as well as the fact that the ban on discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation would equally protect both individuals with conventional sexual orientation as well as homosexuals, I see a logical reason to place this kind of discrimination alongside race, color, gender, age, disability, religious, political or other belief, ethnic or social origin, financial or marital status," the president said.