On May 8, 1998, the GenderDoc-M Information Center was registered as a non-governmental organization without a membership structure. The founders were: Alexei Marchkov (Chairman and Director of the Center), Sofia Marchkova, Nadezhda Mityeva, and Ivan Zverev (auditor). Accounting was handled on a voluntary basis by Elena Mityeva.<\/p>\n
In October 1998, the first issue of the journal Zerkalo<\/em> (\u201cMirror\u201d) was published, as indicated on the cover page. The print run was not specified; however, this issue became the largest in the journal\u2019s entire history \u2014 2,500 copies. At that time, the journal had not yet been officially registered.<\/p>\n On November 6, 1998, Zerkalo<\/em> was registered as the company \u201cZerkalo\u201d LLC. Alexei Marchkov became Editor-in-Chief and Director, and Elena Mityeva served as Accountant.<\/p>\n The first issue of the journal published an \u201cAppeal to the Public of the Republic, to the Gays and Lesbians of Moldova.\u201d This text became the catalyst for numerous media reactions \u2014 a genuine breakthrough in overcoming the silence that had surrounded the topic of homosexuality in the country.<\/p>\n At the end of 1998, Arguments and Facts \u2014 Moldova<\/em> published an interview with Alexei Marchkov, Director of the GenderDoc-M Information Center (\u201cThe Law Tolerates, but the Crowd Beats,\u201d No. 50 (133), December 1998). The newspaper Yunost<\/em> wrote about gender-related work in the article \u201cWe Believe, We Hope, We Wait\u201d (No. 12, October 23, 1998). The publication of the first issue of the journal was noted by Novoe Vremya<\/em> (\u201cIn \u2018Zerkalo,\u2019 Gays Saw Only Themselves,\u201d No. 3, December 25, 1998). These publications were benevolent in tone, demonstrating understanding and professional integrity.<\/p>\n However, openly xenophobic reactions also emerged. The newspapers Flux<\/em> and Communist<\/em> responded harshly, publishing respective commentaries: the article by St. Stoian \u201cThe Wave of Homosexuality Has Reached Chi\u0219in\u0103u\u201d and a piece by K. Voloshin titled \u201cEither One of Them, or Money Has No Smell,\u201d published in the column \u201cFree Press of the Regime.\u201d<\/p>\n The authors of such materials portrayed LGBT people as a \u201csocial threat,\u201d asserting that \u201chomosexuality\u201d leads to societal degradation and the destruction of the family. Their logic ultimately suggested that the only way to \u201csave society\u201d was to isolate homosexuals, including placing them in psychiatric institutions.<\/p>\n In the second issue of Zerkalo<\/em> (already officially registered), published in early 1999, Vlad Negru, Co-Chair of the Senate of the \u201cCurcubeu\/Raduga\u201d (\u201cRainbow\u201d) Movement, rightly observed:<\/p>\n \u201cIt is unclear what fuels the homophobic impulses of moralists from both the far right and the far left\u2026 Of course, it would be easier for them to live if all those who do not meet their standards were locked away in special clinics \u2014 but how would they explain, for example, to a familiar child why that seemingly ordinary man over there is being dragged into a vehicle by orderlies?.. Doesn\u2019t this remind you of anything?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In essence, the article published in the same issue, \u201cFortunately, Not Everyone Picked Up a Stone,\u201d became the first political statement of the Public Movement \u201cCurcubeu\/Raduga.\u201d It \u201cawakened\u201d the community and provided a powerful impetus for new publications in the press, on radio, and on television.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On May 8, 1998, the GenderDoc-M Information Center was registered as a non-governmental organization without a membership structure. The founders were: Alexei Marchkov (Chairman and Director of the Center), Sofia Marchkova, Nadezhda Mityeva, and Ivan Zverev (auditor). Accounting was handled on a voluntary basis by Elena Mityeva. In October 1998, the first issue of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":56181,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"tax_history_category":[117],"class_list":["post-56182","pt_history","type-pt_history","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tax_history_category-117"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBreaking the Silence: The First Media Responses<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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