Weekly religious newsletter (20-27 February, 2012)

On February 23, 2012, the City Council of Bălți has discussed and later adopted (with the vote of 23 out of 35 Council members) the decision “On proclamation of the city of Balti zone of support for Moldovan Orthodox Church and inadmissibility of aggressive propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientations”.

The third article of the decision intends to “prohibit aggressive propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation in any of its manifestation, which is imposed by central authorities of the Republic of Moldova, within the city of Balti” (source) (a video of the session of the City Council can be found here).

Vladimir, Metropolitan of Moldova welcomed the decision: “We want society to be clean and lead a clean life. These people, the homosexuals, cannot be good Christians. Our duty is to ask God to give them wisdom and to help them choose the right path.”

“GenderDoc-M” Information Centre, a non-governmental community-based organization protecting the rights of sexual minorities expressed their deep indignation with the decision of the City Council of Balti.

The organization has released a statement on Thursday, February 23, on their website: “This shameful and absurd decision was voted by 23 out of 35 Council members… It is a matter of our concern that recent manifestations of homophobia, hate speeches and incitements to violence and discrimination against gay people have acquired a form of systematic attacks. They are quickly accelerating and gaining in strength now - during the current instable political situation. The hysteria and rush around the issues of LGBT people’s rights and adoption of the anti-discrimination legislation are generated by the pre-election race and discord among competing political forces. In this situation, LGBT community has become a scapegoat in political games chosen as such due to their marginalized social status in the Republic of Moldova. We urge all national and international institutions, governmental and non-governmental bodies, international missions and delegations to the Republic of Moldova and human rights defenders to draw their particular attention to this dangerous situation when homophobia assumes the shape of institutionally adopted decisions and legislative initiatives.”

Ombudsman Tudor Lazar also condemned the decision and urged authorities to take action on this case: “Taking into consideration the discriminatory and unconstitutional nature of this document, and, on the other hand, looking at provisions of Moldova’s Constitution, which expressly state that provisions concerning human rights must be interpreted in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international agreement the country is part of, I strongly condemn this decision. I also urge the relevant authorities to take actions on this case, considering it to be fully eligible for cancellation.”

The Nondiscrimination Coalition, a voluntary union of several civic associations whose major aim is the protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms, has also denounced the decision of the City Council of Bălți as being unconstitutional, illegal and discriminatory. The Coalition says they will sue the City Council of Bălți if it refuses to repeal the controversial decision.

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Participants at a roundtable organized by the Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova and the Ministry of Defense of Republic of Moldova have discussed the issue of the military priests in the Moldovan army and their social protection.