Poland's conservative prime minister has rejected European Union criticism of a proposal to fire teachers for promoting homosexuality in schools. Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said, "It's not in the interest of any society to increase the number of homosexuals - that's obvious." He also said gays did not face discrimination in his country, responding to an EU parliament vote to send a mission to Poland to investigate recent anti-gay comments by senior officials. "Nobody is limiting gay rights in Poland," Kaczynski told reporters hours after the vote. "However, if we're talking about not having homosexual propaganda in Polish schools, I fully agree with those who feel this way," he said. "Such propaganda should not be in schools; it definitely doesn't serve youth well." Last month, Deputy Education Minister Miroslaw Orzechowski said teachers deemed to be promoting ‘homosexual culture' in schools would be fired, and the ministry announced it would draw up corresponding legislation. The ministry has not defined what it means by efforts to promote homosexuality and has yet to submit the legislation, according to the parliamentary press office. The EU parliament called on Polish authorities to publicly condemn and take measures against declarations by officials "inciting discrimination and hatred based on sexual orientation." The assembly asked the EU's anti-racism center in Vienna to look into "the emerging climate of racist, xenophobic and homophobic intolerance in Poland," and to determine whether the bloc's anti-discrimination rules were being violated. The vast majority of Poland's 38 million people are members of the Roman Catholic church, which considers homosexual behavior sinful. President Lech Kaczynksi - the prime minister's brother - refused to grant parade permits for gay rights marches while he served as mayor of Warsaw, although a gathering was held anyway, in front of his office. Ref: 365gay.com (m)