May 04, 2007News: Victory Claimed by Gays in Moldova
By vanrozenheim
(Chisinau, Moldova) Organisers of the Moldova ‘Gay Pride’ – Rainbow over the Dniester – have claimed a victory over the Chisinau city authorities. Last weekend’s LGBT Pride – the sixth in the Moldovan capital – was staged despite a ban on public events by city officials even after a ruling by the Moldova Supreme Court that a similar ban imposed last year was illegal. But not everything went smoothly. When participants arrived at the Monument to the Victims of Repression, they were met by the police who prevented the laying of flowers.
According to Boris Balanetkii, the director of GenderDoc-M which organised the “Pride”, the police ruled that official permission from City Hall was needed. The participants instead laid their flowers at the feet of the police before tactfully withdrawing.
“Later, in a statement to the media, a representative of the City Hall commented that the actions of the police were not justified and that the laying of flowers at the monument did not require their permission,” Mr. Balanetkii said.
Another Pride event was a protest in front of the City Hall against the decision of the authorities to ban a public event in the city center.
“This had originally been planned as a celebration within the framework of the “All different - All equal” campaign.
“In deciding not to authoriee the event, the City Hall committee accused GenderDoc-M of promoting public sex and homosexuality,” Mr. Balanetkii said.
The protest demonstration lasted some15 minutes, with about 20 people from GenderDoc-M and partner organisations participating. These included a Member of the European Parliament, Maria Carlshamre and her her assistants, who had come to Moldova specially to support the Pride organizers.
“The protest demonstration went off successfully and was protected by the police,” Mr. Balanetkii reported. “About 30 people took part in a counter-demonstration, mainly young people from an extremist organization.”
Fears of City Hall’s that a Gay Pride demonstration would provoke public disorder were not justified. The majority of the people who were witnesses to the event were peaceful, though a number of counter-demonstrators threw eggs.
Earlier last week, demonstrations in solidarity with the Moldovan LGBT Community’s struggle for equality were organised by LGBT activists in front of Moldovan Embassies in Stockholm, Vienna, Bucharest, Washington and New York.
“We would like to thank all the people in Moldova and other countries who went on the streets to show their support and solidarity with Moldova’s LGBT movement,” said Mr. Balanetkii.
“Together we have achieved a first small victory in the struggle of the LGBT community to achieve freedom of assembly in Moldova.
“Building on this year’s experience we will do our best to ensure that next year’s public demonstration by the LGBT community will take place not just as a protest action but as proper Pride Parade,” he concluded.
