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The 2012 Eurovision Contest Winner, Loreen, recorded a video message of support for gays and lesbians in Moldova. “All my gay sisters and my gay brothers, be proud of who you are no matter what anybody says. What you are is everything. It is normal. I love you and I promise you that it gets better”, stated Swedish artist for egali.md website.
Presumable the Law on Ensuring Equality guarantees equal right in political, economic, social, cultural and other spheres of life to everybody. With the same purpose, there was introduced official liability for discriminatory activity in February. Reckless behavior of employers, officials, journalists and entrepreneurs may lead to serious punishment. 
In the bill authors’ opinion, the law discredits moral principles of society and represents danger for family values. The Socialists claim that some European Union member states do not have a law on equality. 
In December, we already wrote about several major lawsuits won by GENDERDOC-M activists. Today, there is another reason to rejoice. On 12 February, Riscani District Court of Chisinau released a judgment in favour of the plaintiffs. 
Yesterday, a march of LGBT individuals and their allies took place in Chisinau. Its route lied along the central boulevard of the capital city. In total, eight people participated in the march. It seems there is nothing peculiar in this. It is enough for everybody just to notify the city authorities. 
In April 2012, GENDERDOC-M, the LGBT advocacy organisation, lodged a lawsuit demanding repeal of the City Council’s decision on “Proclaiming the city of Bălţi a zone of support for Moldovan Orthodox Church and inadmissibility of aggressive propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation”. Later, the Bishop of Bălţi and Făleşti Markel entered the case as an accessory intervener. 
A new project aimed at preventing suicide contemplation and attempts among LGBT youth in Moldova, as well as at providing them free psychological and legal support, was launched yesterday, February 5th, in Chisinau. It represents a local adaptation of the U.S.-based It Gets Better Project whose main platform is the website – www.egali.md – meaning ‘the equal’ in Romanian language.
“Stop homophobia in Russia” became the main slogan of the protest demonstration held today by staff and volunteers of the GENDERDOC-M Information Centre , as well as members of Moldovan LGBT community and their friends in front of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau. In total, ten people took part in the demonstration. 
On 25 December, GENDERDOC-M Information Centre held a seminar for MSM (men who have sex with men) of the third age. It was conducted by an urologist who told about most common health issues among 45-50-year-old men – prostate cancer.
Dear friends and colleagues, 2012 is coming to its end. Very soon our clocks will begin counting days and months of 2013. Contemplating about the past year, we cannot but note that for GENDERDOC-M Information Centre and entire LGBT community, and for the society in general, it was not the worst one. We and entire nation have lived through harder times but we have never put our hands down, because we have always caressed a hope for a brighter future.
The past Monday, 10 December, entire world community celebrated Human Rights Day established by the UN General Assembly in 1950. The slogan of 2012 campaign suggested by UN was “My Voice Counts”. Within the framework of Human Rights Day celebration, United Nations Office in Moldova gave annual awards to individuals and organisations, who contributed to the expansion of understanding of the Human Rights concept in Moldova in 2012 and who are daily involved in a difficult and risky activity in the field of human rights promotion.
On 10 December, the Human Rights Day, GENDERDOC-M Information Centre held a public lection “LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Rights Are Human Rights” together with the International Free University of Moldova (ULIM). The lecture took place in the University Senate Small Auditorium and drew attention of over 60 students from Psychology and Law Departments. The discussion was launched by the Director of ULIM International Cooperation Centre, Vitalie Budeci, who greeted attendees with the Human Rights Day and introduced speakers of the lecture.
At the beginning of November, human rights defenders became hopeful of winning a lawsuit on the ID changing for transsexuals. As the GENDERDOC-M’s Lobby and Advocacy Program Coordinator Angela Frolov said, there had been four transsexual individuals who submitted two collective court claims with the organisation’s support. However, according to the data of the Supreme Court of Justice, there are other similar suits under examination. These cases tend to be delayed in delivering final judgments because national legislation is vague and does not foresee clear-cut procedures when such cases arise. 
We have said it before that the GENDERDOC-M Information Centre has become seriously engaged with legal regulation of interaction between LGBT people and society. On the one hand, of course, this is done to prove and protect equality of gay, bisexual and transgender people with the rights of the rest of citizens; on the other hand, human rights defenders are forced to defend people from attacks, insults, discriminatory actions and statements, violence, blackmail and other “illegalities”. Sometimes it comes to the fact that not only ordinary citizens allow themselves to step over the common sense, but also the representatives of the political elite, whose opinions and words have a big influence on society.
In the already distant 2006, GENDERDOC-M staff held the first training for the police. The practice of raising awareness of the law-enforcement officers with regard to human rights, whose indispensable part is the rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people, hasn’t been ceased. However, it was possible only once to gather a group of police officers since then, unfortunately. That’s why, like 6 years ago, the topic of ensuring security and respecting rights of LGBT people is new and timely for representatives of the law-enforcement body.
We have recently announced beginning of arm wrestling competition among women. We intend to select 4-6 finalists at the semifinal held at the New Year’s Party, so they could take part in the final carried out at the Rainbow over the Dniester festival in May 2013 and compete for the main prize and GENDERDOC-M cup. 
An international coalition of human rights organisations welcomes the historical vote of 20 November 2012 within the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly Organisations. The vote adopted the resolution condemning extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions. The United Nations General Assembly also expanded upon its commitment to the universality of human rights by including “gender identity” for the first time in the resolution’s history.
Today, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova has issued the Recommendation #16 “on the Procedure of examination of requests regarding amendment of acts of a civil status following sex change” due to the growing number of lawsuits in this respect, which are being currently examined by courts at the national level. In conditions where the aforementioned lawsuits represent a new category of cases whilst Moldovan legislation, which is to be applied, is vague in this regard, the Supreme Court of Justice has made some recommendations to local juridical instances with the aim of creating a uniform and correct judicial practice.
Unfortunately, nobody teaches how to work with MSM (men who have sex with men) of third age. There are no theoretical materials or guidelines on such work, either. That’s why GENDERDOC-M Information Centre, having taken upon itself care of gays of the third age, has been blazing its own trail towards people with special needs and attention. And results are encouraging.
The Mitropoly of Moldova doesn’t want to see homosexuals work in schools, hospitals and food catering system. The clergy plan to send a corresponding letter to the parliament’s Legal Committee demanding introduction of amendments to the Law on Ensuring Equality which would deprive gay people of the right to work in these institutions. 
Two years ago, Moldovan film director Marin Turea produced 4 short documentary films about discrimination in our country. The project “Human Rights on Screen” was dedicated to the issues of justice, civil society, people with disabilities and sexual minorities. It was scheduled to broadcast the documentary about homosexual people by the example of a gay man on 15 December 2010. However, having learnt about the public television’s intention to broadcast “such” video, “the public”, and namely, religious leaders started a true war. 
The European Union uses positive conditionality—rewarding countries for adopting specific reforms—as a tool to promote open society values. The case of Moldova shows how clearly defined benchmarks and tangible reward enables the EU to push governments to adopt valuable reforms.
Thirty one members of U.S. Congress have expressed their concerns about recent homophobic decisions adopted by the cities of Balti, Cahul, Drochia, Soroca, districts of Anenii Noi and Basarabeasca. This letter is result of great work that has been done by the Council for Global Equality in response to worrying developments that threaten rights to freedom of assembly and expression of LGBT people in the Republic of Moldova. The letter was also signed by the three openly gay members of the U.S. House of Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank and Jared Polis (all members of the Democratic Party).
Recent months have seen renewed efforts in some Council of Europe member states to silence voices against homophobia and transphobia. Laws banning information about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and inter-sex (LGBTI) issues mark a worrying step back towards a bygone era when homosexuals were treated like criminals. These efforts to curtail freedom of expression and assembly run starkly against international and European human rights standards, says Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in his latest Human Rights Comment published today.
“On 25 May 2012, Government of the Republic of Moldova submitted a renewed version of the Report on Successes of Implementation of the Moldova-EU Visa Regime Liberalisation Action Plan to the European Commission, thus concluding complete introduction of 42 legislative measures within the first stage. The outcomes of the first stage, achieved during the period of less than 18 months, confirm Moldova’s solid intention to implement all commitments taken before its citizens and European Union partners. The tight collaboration with European organisations and EU members states provided the right direction to common endeavours and coordinated actions of all involved national structures”, says the press release of Moldova’s Prime Minister Vlad Filat.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled today that the ban of LGBT demonstration organised by GENDERDOC-M Information Centre in May 2005 was contradictory to Articles 11 (freedom of assembly and association), 13 (right to an effective remedy) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Republic of Moldova is to pay GENDERDOC-M Information Centre compensation in the amount of 11,000 Euros within following three months.
On 17 May, entire world marks International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. Annually, Moldovan human rights defenders prepare a certain programme of activities to remind local officials and society that LGBT people are equal citizens of the country. 
Today, the Appeal Court of Chisinau has released a decision allowing transgender people to change their legal documents, namely birth certificates, in accordance with their desired gender (either female or male). The legal gender change is possible solely on the basis of the diagnosis “transsexualism (the nuclear form)” issued after a thorough psychiatric examination and does not require any surgical interventions.
The GENDERDOC-M Information Centre is appalled by the series of homophobic and derogatory declarations made by Marian Lupu, speaker of Moldovan parliament and leader of the Democratic Party, during the talk-show on one of Moldovan TV channels on Monday evening, 21 May. When asked to comment on the draft law on equal opportunities, former anti-discrimination law containing controversial amendments, Mr Lupu allowed himself a number of aggressive and degrading statements against fundamental rights and freedoms of gay people, their human dignity and pursuit of equality.
The 11th festival “Rainbow over the Dniester” ended unexpectedly quickly. In fact, there were left only the closing ceremony and results of the drag queen competition. 
On behalf of The Equal Rights Trust (ERT), an independent international organisation whose purpose is to combat discrimination and promote equality as a fundamental human right and a basic principle of social justice Dimitrina Petrova, executive director of ERT, expresses their grave concerns about the recently published draft Law on Equal Opportunities (the Draft Law) to Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Mr. Vlad Filat.
The entire text of the letter can be found below.
As it has been said and written on numerous occasions, the last day of Pride Festival was dedicated to the art of cinema and theatre. The Documentary Marathon, which included screening of two films and a theatre performance, took place on 12 May and welcomed everybody. It was interesting especially because a discussion with their creators was offered after each work. However, no media representative came to the events. 
The second Rainbow over the Dniester 2012 festival day was captivating and diverse. The whole-day programme included communion, wedding ceremony, Pride House and a reception dedicated to GENDERDOC-M’s birthday. 
Despite the fact that the 11th “Rainbow over the Dniester” started officially on Thursday morning, everybody had been looking forward to its official opening in the evening. 
Taking into consideration unwillingness of pride guests and participants not to get in touch with mass media representatives, “Rainbow over the Dniester 2012” organizers held majority of so-called social activities behind closed doors. One of them was the Human Library project.
On the first Pride day, May 10th, many people gathered in the courtyard of GENDERDOC-M Information Centre. They all came to the opening of commemorative plaque dedicated to victims of homophobia. As for now, the commemorative sign looks like a metal triangle with an incrusted piece of granite. However, according to the human rights organisation’s chairman Alexei Marcicov, the monument will be slightly remodeled in the future. So far, the project is under elaboration and thus it may suffer many changes. 
This Tuesday, May 8, GENDERDOC-M Information Centre representatives held a press conference where they described how the new “Rainbow over the Dniester” would look like. 
- Currently, Government is getting ready to forward the anti-discrimination bill to Parliament which was withdrawn from it a year ago. The bill is heavily criticized by certain representatives of church, as well as by particular political forces. 
CHISINAU -- Moldova's north-central city of Balti is emerging as a key hotspot in the latest controversy threatening to split the impoverished country in two.
