A number of civil society organizations condemn the statements made by the Metropolitan Bishop of Chisinau and all Moldova Vladimir in the April 27 meeting of Parliament and the toleration and even supporting of these by some of the MPs. The NGOs class these statements as discriminatory, IPN reports.

In his speech in Parliament, His Holiness Vladimir pleaded for the abrogation of the Law on Equality of Chances, saying this protects the rights of the sexual minorities and such laws lead to the destabilization of the situation in society and failure of the Christian values. A number of MPs applauded this call.

The NGOs say the statements made by the Metropolitan Bishop violate the limits of a religious speech. “We note that the Republic of Moldova is a secular state. His statements seriously affected the equality and human dignity of the persons of the LGBT community, who, in the Metropolitan Bishop’s view, do not deserve to enjoy equal treatment. The statement is erroneous as it limits Law 121 to one protected group. The reaction of the MPs who applauded shows lack of responsibility and respect for the principles of equality and nondiscrimination,” says a statement signed by representatives of the NGOs.

The signatories remind that the Law on Equality of Chances protects all the persons who are on Moldova’s territory from discriminatory treatment, regardless of race, color, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion, sex, age, disability, opinion, political affiliation and any other similar criterion. The promotion of discriminatory messages against any group of people is unacceptable in a democratic state with the rule of law where the rights and freedoms of all the people are equally protected, in accordance with the Constitution and international treaties.

“We express our profound regret at the fact that the Parliament’s rostrum is used to promote prejudiced messages that run counter to the principles and international standards on human rights…. . …We demand to refrain from promoting discriminatory messages, including in Parliament,” says the statement.

Among the signatories are the Association “Promo-LEX”, the Nondiscrimination Coalition, the Legal Resources Center of Moldova, the National Roma Center, the Foreign Policy Association, the Institute for Public Policy and the Partnership for Development Center.