Good Friday Stiptease Condemned

VILNIUS-  Male stripping incites indignation from a Conservative Lithuanian MP.  Plans to hold the International Men's Striptease Championship in Vilnius on Good Friday have also instigated a public outcry amongst conservatives and religious communities.

Former Lithuanian Prime Minister, Irena Degutiene said in a announcement circulated on Thursday, that theevent was inconsistent withChristian values and the nation's traditions. The event is to be held in a Vilnius nightclub.

In her words, Good Friday is the height of Lent when the entire Christian world mourns the death ofJesus Christ. Degutiene said the striptease contest is an outrage againstLithuanian believers, and destroys main moral values.

The Lithuanian Catholic Church has also expressed outrage over theevent.

This will be the fourth time the event "Baltic Man" has been held in Lithuania. Previous years have seen individual men battle for the title, but the ever growing event now includes strippers fighting it out in teams. The international event features not just Baltic male strippers, but from France, Poland and Belarus as well.