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Pride March Plans Stir Hostility in Still Conservative Moldova

['Keith Harrington']

Date: 2022-06-03 00:00:00

Genderdoc-M responded to Ceban’s Facebook post, saying that, “according to the law on freedom of assembly, the permission or prohibition of holding peaceful public actions is not within the competence of the mayor”.

It reminded the mayor that Moldova has already lost two cases before the European Court of Human Rights over previous attempts to ban LGBT assemblies.

Radu Marian, a PAS MP, also slated Ceban’s statement, accusing the mayor of “intimidating and oppressing the LGBT community and the citizens of Chisinau who simply want to exercise their constitutional right to assemble peacefully”.

Ceban responded by citing rising inflation and declining living standards to claim that the only people being discriminated against in Moldova were pensioners and those with large families.

He reiterated that members of the LGBT community were free to do what they wanted behind closed doors and accused the government of using the issue as a smokescreen to cover up its own failures.

Debates surrounding the LGBT community will likely feature prominently in Moldovan politics in the run-up to June 16.

As the current PAS government is actively pursuing European Union candidacy, it will probably voice support for the LGBT community and its right to hold public demonstrations.

But Moldovan society remains conservative, and LGBT activists will continue to encounter stiff political and social opposition over the next few weeks and beyond.

If the Pride rally takes place, it will likely do so in a tense atmosphere and, once again, under heavy police protection.

Keith Harrington is NUI Travelling Scholar in Humanities and Social Sciences, PhD Candidate, History Department, Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, Maynooth University.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of BIRN.

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[1] Url: https://balkaninsight.com/2022/06/03/pride-march-plans-stir-hostility-in-still-conservative-moldova/

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