05/09/2008
Mayor Bans Moldovan Gay Pride Parade
That first-ever Moldovan Gay Pride parade I posted about earlier has been banned by the mayor of the nation's capital Chisinau.
Organizers sent out a notice earlier today, part of which read: "It is already sixth time that a peaceful LGBT demonstration is banned in Moldova, despite pressure and criticism of the Council of Europe, European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. From the police, city hall and mass-media we have learned that a number of groups is planning violent attacks on pride participants. We believe that the unlawful decision of the city hall was designed to shift the responsibility for any victims of this violence from local authorities and the police to pride organizers. The actions of the Chisinau city hall and the police are in violation of the European Convention for Human Rights and the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, to which Moldovan is a signatory, as well as other international human rights obligations of the Moldovan state. It is also against the European Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which Moldova has aspirations to join."
Many plan to march anyway, in defiance of the order.
Previously
Moldova Kicks Off Pride Festivities with Symbolic Gay Marriage [tr]
(thanks, rex)
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 4:28 PM EST by Andy in Gay Pride, Gay Rights, Moldova, News | Permalink
Comments
Well, to those who spoke about the "vile blacks" in the thread on homophobia in the Cayman Islands earlier this week: I guess it's back to Jamaica, boys. Eastern Europe aint a welcoming gay destination spot either.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | May 9, 2008 4:56:45 PM
Gosh, where have I heard that before... the mayor banning the gay pride manifestation....
Not too surprising given that Moldova is more or less between homophobic Russia and homophobic Romania, with which it shares a homophobic church and language.
Posted by: Kevinvt | May 9, 2008 5:55:12 PM
Hey, Romania isn't all that homophobic. I know coz I live there! There are the retarded football (soccer) supporters...who fit very well in the hooligan class as well. Those are then main concern that gave the police a lot of grief at previous pride parades (that i personally attended). Police did a good job at keeping us safe, tho, coz from my knowledge, no one was injured. Still..between Russia and Romania... I tend to think that we're a bit more open-minded than the russians. I'm not saying we're not a long way to go, coz we are, but look at what's happening on the other side of the ocean.. a gay kid was shot twice in the head by a schoolmate because he was gay. At least we can blame communism for making our grandparents and parents so up-tight about this kind of thing and imposing their views on young people nowadays..thank god they don't really like listening to their parents. BTW my parents know and have absolutely nothing against it. :P Rant over! :))
Posted by: Danii | May 10, 2008 7:03:43 AM
First, I am from Greece and thus Greek Orthodox. Please don't compare our religion to other orthodox christians. From what I see American christians are insane, but I would never say such a thing without actually knowing something about them. Moldova is one of Europes poorest countries and they need to catch up in many things. I feel bad for the gay community there, but if you are from Europe as I am then you would feel sorry for all of the Moldova people. There women are known as hookers all over Europe because of the slave trade. This gay parade thing is very American and is not European, especially older Europe. It is confusing and I would never go to one. Many people in Europe simply view it as silly with stupid behaviour. It is simply a tacky circus parade. I've helped keep it contained in Athens and in Cyprus.
Posted by: Caligula | May 12, 2008 12:09:08 AM
I'd be careful about projecting a particular nation's attitudes to the rest of the European Union. You're talking about nearly 500 million individuals spread across a vast territory.
Gay parades are quite popular in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, and Paris. The largest gay pride is actually in Brazil (Sao Paulo) rather than the United States. I've been to the Amsterdam event. It is just as wild as any of the parades in America. But it's not all "circus."
The strength of the parade (and the degree of official support) is a good indicator of the political influence of gays in that city, since many politicians will take the opportunity to express their views on homosexuality...negative and positive.
And Derrick is quite right. If this were the mayor of Johannesburg (or even Detroit), everyone would be harping on about "vile blacks." Instead, we simply get the usual blame the Americans meme.
For some of us, it appears "American" has become the new "Jewish." As long as the idea is associated with the United States, it is instantly dismissed as stupid. And nobody has to address the merits of the actual dispute.
Posted by: John | May 12, 2008 1:01:41 AM
This is more important that it appears: We have a big problem in Sacramento and other parts of the US with Russian and Latvian immigrants who are violently homophobic. One poor young man who was mistakenly perceived as gay was murdered by them. Their church tells them that it is fine to attack gays and that's what they do. If we could fix the problem 'over there' it would be better for everyone.
Posted by: Gary | May 12, 2008 8:30:58 AM
We have many Russians in my home city of Athens and they don't kill anyone. They are one of the most successful and least violent foreigners we have. They do have a problem with organized crime though and only harass there own like the Italian mafia. The Italian mafia in the US never went around killing gay people. I am an orthodox christian as well and our religion is nothing like what is being said. I can say the same of the Mormons, the Baptists and the Evangelicals in the US that I find to be more insane than the muslims. Russia is a former communist country that never had religion, most of the people there know nothing about there religion. Either do many of the x-soviet countries. Moscow is a power house city, with amazing clubs, shopping, restaurants and a gay mafia like no other. I suggest a bit of traveling for some people. The gay pride events are not a bad thing for Europe but Europeans and Americans are very different. We see things a great deal differently. These parades are silly, they are tacky and people go and have a goodtime and laugh a little. Nobody in western Europe cares what kind of parade it is. It's just a fun thing for everyone. We had our first parade in Athens recently and only the straight people went and they were all foreigners with nothing better to do.
Posted by: Caligula | May 12, 2008 11:38:38 AM
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