ΟΙ ΟΜΟΦΥΛΟΦΙΛΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΤΡΙΤΗΣ ΗΛΙΚΙΑΣ 1- ΜΟΛΔΑΒΙΑ

They need to know they are not forgotten
Have you ever seen a used piece of paper being thrown away? In
the same way, the State of Moldova has stamped on and thrown
older people out of society, considering them unnecessary.
The dying USSR robbed them not only of anything connected with
freedom and democracy, but left them without means of existence. It
took everything away from them that they had saved for a rainy day.
The ruble devalued so much that it transformed into a piece of
paper that now is being thrown into the rubbish bin.
Generation stamped down by state
However, if someone thinks that the new government has changed its
attitude towards older people, they are deeply mistaken. Most of those
who were building the ‘bright communist tomorrow’ now survive,
rather than live, on a pension of about 30-40 euros per month. That
is because all the previous bureaucrats stayed in power and
consequently all of the rules remained in place: who is not with us is
against us; do not have your own opinion; liberties and freedoms are
only for those in power.
In this respect it is interesting to look at Mr B’s life story. He is only 58
years old but already does not work and spends long weeks in the
hospital. When the ruble devalued he had over 50,000 soviet rubles.
Back then it was a very considerable amount, which could provide a
worry-free life for an entire family for decades. One day a person who
was wealthy - according to those times - became poor. Naturally, such
distress also causes psychological problems. Taking into account
that he is gay and his relatives found this out, you can
only image the turmoil he was facing. Nobody needed
him; relatives, neighbors and former friends despise
him. He is lonely and unprotected.
Loneliness, repugnance from neighbours and relatives became life
companions for practically every elderly gay person in Moldova. Most
of the people in our country remain Soviet and still express a lot of
interest towards the private life of their neighbours. Once it becomes
known that the person next door is gay, the neighbours immediately
start rumours.
As a result a gay person’s life turns into hell. This person is being
reminded about who he/she is on each possible occasion: graffiti
‘Faggot lives here’ or other degrading signs appear in the lift or on a
front door, sometimes a phone rings with an offer to have sex. This is
not fiction. I am writing about the true experiences of two gay men.
However, these people cannot rely on any help form the state.
Economically, the state is struggling on its own. As for the police
authorities, they do not even consider it a crime or accident if on the
grounds of sexual orientation. Moreover, the police are often the
perpetrators of crimes against LGBT people such as extortion, verbal
abuse, brutality. There is still no legislation in the country banning
sexual orientation discrimination and homophobia is an everyday
occurrence - even politicians and civil servants
often come out with homophobic statements and remarks.
Neither do mainstream non-governmental organisations dealing with
elderly people’s issues show any interest in protecting elderly LGBT
people. They can easily be regarded as sexual minorities or their
supporters, as happened to Amnesty International. Staff and
volunteers of Amnesty were threatened with being included on the
‘black list’ for trying to protect several women from GenderDoc-M
against police abuse.
Hope dies last
While the younger generation of LGBT people quickly realised
advantages of an integrated society, the elderly LGBT people do not
rush to join the Information Centre GenderDoc-M and its activities.
Having learnt the bitter lesson of lies and betrayal by the communist
and other parties and governments, they do not believe promises.
And we knew this at our centre as we had some fragile links with the
elderly people. Some members of the Centre had elderly friends and
from time to time they chatted over the phone. Often we talked about
a possibility of getting together.
In the beginning of 2002 we started making lists, searching for
addresses and telephone numbers. As a result we gathered over 50
people and invited them to our Centre. In April we organised the first
meeting which, without any exaggerations, was an unprecedented
event for the Moldovan LGBT community. We marked the 7 years
since the criminal code article previously criminalising same-sex
acts was repealed, and t his day became known in the history of
Moldova’s gay movement as "Remembrance Day’.
We heard lots of interesting and sometimes dramatic stories. We were
especially stunned listening to stories of the very recent past when
homophobia entered some political parties and when the media started
circulating sentiments that being gay equals not being a human. Most
of the murders of gay people took place exactly within this period of
time.
Since 1990, 14 gay people have been murdered because of their
sexuality. This is many times more than during the Soviet time. We
honoured their memories with a minute of silence.
During that meeting we decided to gather at the GenderDoc-M Centre
on a more regular basis, once every three months, to discuss the
problems faced by elderly LGBT people and to help those in need of
assistance. Now the staff and volunteers of our Centre prepare for such
meetings well in advance: sorting our meeting with the medical doctors
and psychologists depending on the meeting’s theme. We normally
prepare various games to unwind psychologically, shows or thematic
films. Afterwards we provide dinner, those most in need are provided
with food packs for such occasions as New Year or Easter celebrations.
Our Centre also collects and distributes clothes and shoes to those LGBT
people who are unable to purchase them. Normally the clothes and
shoes are donated by wealthier Moldovans or foreign citizens working
in diplomatic missions in Moldova. They often also donate money
which, together with other sources collected during gay prides and
other charity events, is distributed to less fortunate members of the
LGBT community in Moldova. Now that the elderly LGBT people have
become an integral part of this community, they are regular visitors
of our Centre, they are coming to pick up our publications, watch
films on Fridays, many of them take active part in our conferences
and seminars. However the most visited events are meetings with the
medical personnel and psychologists.
It iscrucial for them to know they are remembered!
ALEXEI MARCHKOV
President of the Information Centre GenderDoc-M

(Αναδημοσίευση από το NEWSLETTER, Automn 2006 της ILGA-Europe)