Moldova joins the ranks of other Eastern European “Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time” countries as a bus load of Gay Pride celebrants was hijacked in full view of the police who stood by and did nothing.
A large, aggressive and well-coordinated group of religious extremists blocked the bus carrying Gay Pride participants. Then they forced open the door the door of the bus before violently trying to break the windows. Throughout the incident, police stood by watching the attack as “passive observers”.
The parade organizers, GenderDoc-M, the country’s LGBT non-governmental organisation, had informed local authorities and as early as April 21 about the route of the march, and requested police protection. The law on freedom of assembly in Moldova guarantees peaceful assembly to everyone, and puts an obligation on the police to guarantee the safety of participants.
“The police did not facilitate the exit of pride participants from the bus into the street, did not prevent the rival aggressive groups from intervention, and through their passivity encouraged escalation of violence and the build up of the all-permissive hostile atmosphere,” GenderDoc-M said in a statement this afternoon.
Similar incidents have happened in other Eastern European (former Soviet) countries where religious fundamentalists have made significant inroads in recruiting members. Latvia recently added discrimination against LGBT people into their constitution.
As a gay man, I would seriously reconsider any travel to one of these countries and consider them a risky place for GLBT tourists.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment