On January 17, 1999, a meeting of representatives of the LGBT community (attended only by gay men) took place in Chișinău and evolved into the founding conference of the Public Movement of Gays and Lesbians of Moldova “Curcubeu” (“Rainbow”). The conference elected its governing body — the Senate — headed by Chairman Alexei Marchkov, as well as three Co-Chairs representing the interests of different groups (gay men, lesbians, bisexuals), and two senators — a responsible secretary and a legal advisor. The position of Co-Chair representing lesbians remained vacant, as at that time the organizers of the Center and the Movement had no established contacts with lesbians.
The First Project of the GenderDoc-M Information Center
The first project implemented by the Center was titled “Human Rights and Sexual Minorities in Moldova.” It was funded by the Soros Foundation Moldova. The project budget amounted to USD 3,260. The coordinators were Alexei Marchkov and Natalia Esmanchuk.
The project included the organization of two international seminars:
“Social and Psychological Aspects of Homosexuality” — December 1999;
“The Right to Privacy in Accordance with European and International Standards” — February 2000.
Both events took place at the Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu Municipal Library in central Chișinău and brought together approximately 30 participants. Significant support was provided by staff members of the Helsinki Committee in Moldova.
As a result of the seminars, the organizers managed to save a small sum, which, with the partner foundation’s approval, was used to publish a special issue of the journal Zerkalo, with a print run of 1,000 copies, featuring the main materials from the events.
The national press also showed interest. In Novoe Vremya, Alexander Suvorin published a report titled “A New Flower Has Been Found: Ivan-da-Vasiliy,” with the subtitle: “Sexual minorities will sooner or later assert their rights, and something will have to be done about it.”
He wrote:
“The results of the Chișinău seminar indicate that a kind of embryo of a future gay movement is growing and developing in Moldova… The situation is changing before our eyes… Our world is changing, and sometimes not in ways we would like. There is nothing that can be done about it… All that remains is to seek compromise. For the past ten years, Moldova has been doing little else but learning how to seek compromise. Thus, nothing will change qualitatively — there will simply be one more exercise in tolerance, a difficult one and, it seems, an inevitable one.”
