On 25 January 2014, in a conference room of the Flowers Hotel took place the annual general assembly of the GENDERDOC-M Information Centre’s members, which summed up the past year and outlined activities for the new one.
Opening the meeting, the Chairman of organisation, Alexei Marcicov, stated the quorum, clarifying that the majority of the absent GENDERDOC-M members, hadn’t come due to legitimate reasons. Some of them are involved in other projects implemented by foreign organisations in former Soviet republics, Eastern and Western Europe, some had went to study or even emigrated in other countries. At the same time, the number of absentees wasn’t big and didn’t affect the decision making process.
Having familiarised the participants with the meeting agenda, Alexei Marcicov noted that GENDERDOC-M was expecting a lively debate over all announced agenda points but especially of those like activities of the coming Pride Festival and presentation of organisation’s rebranding. In the Centre’s chairman’s words, the change in the generations of the management team, arrival of people with a more modern vision had lead to the necessity of renewing organisation’s image.
Main objective to defend rights of LGBT people
Following the unanimous adoption of agenda, the Executive Director Anastasia Danilovapresented her report. She, in particular, told that in the past year organisation’s budget comprised 178,351 Euros, including long-term projects sponsored by major donor organisations, short-term projects and single-time donations from partners. What regards the shortcomings of the two from the 13 points of the financial report, they, in Anastasia’s words, didn’t represent the excess in the budget but the fact that the projects, which were still in the process of implementation, hadn’t not been fully covered financially de facto. Thus, the results of the one of them – study on the perception of adolescence by LGBT youth – will be presented in March, while the second one – regarding elimination of discrimination through strategic litigation – would continue until the end of the first half of 2014.
Turning to the long-term plans for 2014, the GENDERDOC-M executive director noted that the already approved budget for 2014 comprised 180,111 Euros, which a little more than the budget for 2013. At the same time, many projects will close during the first half of the year, while there will be other project proposals submitted to donors. That’s why those numbers couldn’t be considered final.
Addressing to the members of organisation, Anastasia Danilova urged them to generate and promote new ideas and projects more actively. However, she stressed that regardless the significance of such event as the Rainbow over the Dniester Festival and complaints from some GENDERDOC-M members and beneficiaries regarding the decrease in the number of entertainment activities, GENDERDOC-M Information Centre’s main objective was the human rights defence, and the main move had to be done in that direction.
According to Anastasia Danilova, this year like in the previous one, GENDERDOC-M’s main donor organisations would remain the Sigrid Rausing Trust (UK), Civil Rights Defenders (Sweden), American Bar Association Rule of Low Initiative, Open Society Foundations (USA), and Soros Foundation Moldova.
Law adopted, problems remain
Following the executive director, other Centre’s staff members took the floor as well. Thus, the Lobby and Advocacy Program Coordinator Angela Frolov first noted the fact that after adoption of the Law on Ensuring Equality, the organisation had been less targeted which allowed better concentration on current matters.
One of the achievements of the year, in Angela Frolov’s opinion, is the launch and successful activity of the egali.md website. It features tens of video messaged by known individuals to the young nationals of Moldova who are subjected to the degrading treatment because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Some of the videos are accompanied by translation and subtitles. The words of support were expressed not only by Moldova’s citizens but also by people living abroad. Among the video messages posted on the website are many personal accounts of LGBT individuals themselves.
In 2013, the Program staff gave 20 interviews, participated in 6 debates and 2 TV shows, and these numbers concern only the topic of the Law on Ensuring Equality and its positive impact on the lives of LGBT people. It is important to note that in 2013 a body with consultative status aimed at monitoring implementation of the Law on Ensuring Equality – the Council on Preventing and Eliminating Discrimination and Ensuring Equality – was established. Moreover, Angela Frolov attended all Council member selection interviews held by the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and assured all of them were LGBT friendly.
The main activity within the Program is the time- and resource-consuming litigations regarding discrimination and violations of other human rights, including hate crimes, as well as the legal aid provided to the Centre’s beneficiaries free of charge. More complex are the trials concerning divorce and settlement of custody of children and legal gender recognition of transgender individuals. In 2013, overall new 9 claims were submitted and 10 judgements received. In 10 only one was not in favour of the Centre’s beneficiaries; the rest of the cases are being in the process of examination.
Besides this, in cooperation with Amnesty International Moldova and Hyde Park Association there were held three protest rallies in front of the Russian Federation Embassy as a response to the prohibition of the so-called “gay propaganda” among adolescents sand adoption of the homophobic state policy in general, as well as there was organized the “LGBT for Traditional Values” march.
Angela Frolov told about the entire series of information seminars, trainings and round tables on such topics as roots of homophobia in the tolerant Moldovan society, prevention of hate crimes against LGBT, and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). SOGI is the most frequent topic of trainings held for the pedagogical personnel, journalists, human rights defenders, the Ombudsperson Office’s personnel, as well as the Anti-discrimination Council. A similar training was held for the group of Border Control Police because in the recent past it was exactly this authority that had generated conflict with GENDERDOC-M. Its staff couldn’t allegedly identify two transgender guests of the Rainbow over the Dniester Festival in 2010 that had come from Kazakhstan, and the border control authority of the Chişinău International Airport subjected them to a degrading personal check in order to identify the sex of the “unidentifiable individuals”. Judging by the feedback received from participants, nothing similar will happen in the future.
Services become accessible to many
The Health Programme Coordinator, Veaceslav Mulear, noted that the project his team and he had been working on for several years is a long-term one and aimed at decreasing the level of HIV/AIDS and STI spread among members of the LGBT and MSM communities as well as to ensure the social and psychological support to LGBT individuals.
The programme promoting safer sexual behaviour was introduced many years ago, and during its implementation expanded its geography – from Chişinău to Tiraspol and Bălţi. Last year GENDERDOC-M services covered 1781 people; 179 from them benefitted from individual counselling regading sexual health, and 14 we redirected to the Neovita youth-friendly health centre and the Hospital of Dermatology and Communicable Diseases. Besides this, there were distributed 23.550 condoms and 2039 lubricants in tubes. It should be noted that in 2014 there will be introduced plastic cards of beneficiaries to collect the statistical data. The new electronic monitoring system will allow organisation to identify the level of popularity of different events, protection means and services among beneficiaries.
Last year, GENDERDOC-M hosted a bio-behavioral research among MSM. The analysis of its results showed the decrease in number of syphilis and STI infected, while it noted a considerable increase in the incidence of HIV infection: from 1,7 to 5,4% in Chişinău and from 0,2 to 8,2% in Bălţi. Overall, more than 450 males were tested.
By the end of the alst year, it had become possible to introduce the system of rapid testing. Now, one can get tested on HIV on the basis of saliva right in the GENDERDOC-M office, as well as at places where GENDERDOC-M is holding thematic activities, which allows a better control over the spread of HIV among MSM and lets the beneficiaries be timely informed of their HIV status. Thus, testing on HIV and STI, social work based on the outreach method, ensuring quality condoms and lubricants are becoming accessible to the most GENDERDOC-M beneficiaries.
A particular spot in the programme is reserved for the work with the third-age MSM. The project titled “Organisational and educational work with gays and other MSM of third age. Our response to HIV/AIDS” was sponsored by the US-based Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and it aimed at raising awareness level of the third-age MSM in the field of reproductive health by encouraging a safer sexual behaviour. The project extension allowed those individuals to be empowered and feel needed by the society, which took off many age-related psychological issues. The project also ensured peer communication among MSM of the third age at the activities organized by GENDERDOC-M.
Answering the question from the audience if GENDERDOC-M had requested the state support for this important project, Anastasia Danilova said: “We are an independent organisation and we don’t want to depend on the state, moreover after the state has cut Ministry of Health’s funds for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. Although, for the sake of fairness, it should be noted that in the nearest future there are expected changes in this domain. It is related to the fact that the World Health Organisation has demanded its members to expand the state support of people living with HIV/AIDS, including members of the LGBT community. Thus, in the future we may begin receiving state support”.
It is important to understand and accept the world in its diversity
Natalia Esmanciuc, the head of the LGBT Health and Social Wellbeing Program, told about her work with the peer support group of parents of LGBT people. Thus, in 2013 there were held four meetings, and some of them took place on the initiate of parents themselves. These meetings helped to identify their need of additional information that would be of help in increasing their social activism and improving their skills in assisting their children and relatives in relation to the coming out process. Currently, the support group is delegating the most active mothers and fathers to become members of the organisation and is working on the establishment of the parents committee.
More and more universities are covered by GENDERDOC-M information work regarding sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). In 2013, there were held 7 seminars on topic “Fundamental aspects of sexual orientation and gender identity” for 150 students from the State and Technical Universities of Moldova, ULIM, Criminology University and Ion Creangă Pedagogical University. The same seminar was held for the representatives of NGOs and medical workers. These activities aim at providing participants with the reliable information on sexual orientation and gender identity, which will help break down stereotypes and myths about homosexuality, as well as to develop basic skills in the work with LGBT people.
Natalia Esmanciuc has also conducted the monitoring of Moldovan mass media for several years. She informed the assembly that in 2013 there had been collected 698 materials (articles, reports, and news published in the traditional and electronic mass media, as well as featured in the radio and TV programmes) on sexual orientation and gender identity, Law on Ensuring Equality, GENDERDOC-M’s activity and its events. There was noted a decrease in the number of negative publications and increase in the number of neutral ones. Thus, out of 698 mentioned materials 119 had positive tone, 155 – negative one, and 420 were neutral.
The psychologist Svetlana Clivadă told about the work she performed in 2013. Without going into details of the project titled “Perception of adolescence by LGB”, whose research report and results will be presented in March, she noted that there had been interviewed 140 respondents. In the interview, there were identified needs and problems of LGB youth at the moment of realizing their sexual orientation and the reaction of others to their coming out. The accent in this research is put on the respondents’ relations during the school years: attitudes of school students and teachers towards homosexuality, awareness of their classmates and teachers about their sexual orientation, as well as the reaction of the latter towards this fact. The respondents’ knowledge about the work of the GENDERDOC-M Information Centre is also important: when they learned about its activity, if they know of its services, what services they use, and what services they would like to benefit from.
In 2013, there were conducted 163 individual counselling sessions. During these sessions it was identified that most often gays and lesbians come to the psychologist to resolve issues of emotional distress, interpersonal and family relations, and with problems arising during the coming out period.
Besides this, Svetlana Clivadă helped facilitating the meeting of parents from Ukraine and Moldova, participated in the development of the psychologists’ network in Ukraine, held seminars with the army psychologists and Border Control Police, as well as facilitated discussion clubs for LGBT community members.
Besides this, Svetlana Clivadă helped facilitating the meeting of parents from Ukraine and Moldova, participated in the development of the psychologists’ network in Ukraine, held seminars with the army psychologists and Border Control Police, as well as facilitated discussion clubs for LGBT community members.
With so many events, meetings and reports one can only wonder where the organisation’s staff members find time and efforts to participate in seminars and trainings for continuous learning. The Assembly acknowledged the work of the Information Centre in 2013 not as formally satisfactory but as good, and GENDERDOC-M had deserved that appreciation.
And briefly about important things
After the break, the Censorship Committee read the report on the accountancy of membership fee and material values owned by the organisation. The head of the Censorship Committee, Vald Iscrov, found the state of organisation’s affairs good specifying that the Centre’s personnel was about to finalise the procedure of property inventory part of which, having been assessed overage, is formally taken off the lists but still could be further used. With regard to this, he recommended introduction of an additional timesheet for such valuables.
There was one more suggestion made by the Censorship Committe. It concerned the debt of membership fees реви. In two cases, the ddelay in membership payment exceed three years. Vlad Iscrov proposed to exclude members from the organisation due to their loss of contact with it. This recommendation was endorsed by the majority of votes. However, 11 new members out of 14 candidates were elected later. The election of the three candidates was postponed to the next meeting due to their absence in the room. Five other members were voted as honorary members for their considerable contribution to the development of the LGBT movement of Moldova.
The most heated debate arose around the presentation of organisationțs rebranding concept. Not only the GENDERDOC-M logo will be changed, but also its website, which will have a vertical structure. There was a number of concersn and objections stating the rainbow logo should’ve been kept. It was announced that if there would be more negative feedback than the positive one, organisation will continue seraching for more creativity.
Editorțs note. The meeting was open to general public. It was attended by 20 people who were not members of the orgnisation. Among the guests, who took part in the agenda discussion, was the Programme Manager of Civil Rights Defenders Bobbie Traut (Sweden), pastor of the Metropolitan Community Churches Jim Mulcahy, as well as parents of gays and lesbians, their friends and Centre’s beneficiaries.
2014-01-31
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