The march staged by the LGBT community was interrupted at not even half of the planned route owing to the opponents who were waiting for the marchers at the Summer Theater in “Valea Morilor” Park, where the event was to be ended. Near the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, police officers blocked the access of several young people who said that they were nationalists and tried to hinder the march, IPN reports.
Angela Frolov, lobby and advocacy program coordinator at the Information Center “Genderdoc-M”, which defends the rights of the LGBT community, said the police warned them not to go to the Sumer Theater as there were counter-protesters there waiting for them. Thus, the march started at the U.S Embassy and ended on Nicolae Iorga St. Angela Frolov said the march was aimed at cultivating tolerance towards the LGBT community, protecting the human rights and promoting civilian equality for everyone, regardless of the sexual orientation and gender identity.
MEP Marije Cornelissen, who attended the march, said the fact that an LGBT march was organized in Moldova for the first time, with the authorities’ support, is rejoicing. “Many attempts were made to stage this march, but they were thwarted. It is amazing that you didn’t give up. Things change slowly but firmly,” he stated. Swedish Ambassador to Moldova Ingrid Tersman and U.S. Ambassador William Moser welcomed the fact that a sexual minorities’ march was mounted in Moldova for the first time.
European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Štefan Füle, who came to the event accompanied by the EU Ambassador to Moldova Dirk Schuebel, also transmitted a message of support.
Adrian Jovmir, spokesman for the Chisinau Police Division, said the march organizers didn’t fully obey the decision of the Centru Court, which decided that the march should be held at the Summer Theater. If it’s established that the marchers flouted the court decision, they will be fined 600 to 3,000 lei.
After the participants in the march dispersed, about 50 persons mobilized by the public association “Moldova’s Choice” went to the Summer Theater to protest against the march. They chanted homophobe slogans, with some of them saying they go to beat the homosexuals.
In the square of the Metropolitan Cathedral, hundreds of Orthodox Christians came together to show their dissatisfaction with the LGBT march. Priests held a service in support of the traditional and family values.
The marchers were protected by several hundred police officers equipped with nightsticks, masks and guns. According to the deputy head of the Chisinau Police Division Silviu Musuc, there were no altercations and cases of violence.
Last May, Moldova’s Parliament adopted the Law on Equality of Chances by which the rights of the sexual minorities and other discriminated categories are protected.
