Towards a more tolerant Romania… Media Watch by AlexS

 

Capitala nr. 133, 5 October 2000—“A More Gay Romania” (Cristina R. Iordan). The summary of the article repeats the title phrase, while the photograph of two of the conference participants reads “Apostles of  “Homo” in Bucharest.” The apparent hostility is mistaken, though: the article is far more moderate and objective than we would expect reading the above quotes. In spite of the fact that the author confides that “once we arrived there we expected to see loving couples asking their right to display affection right in the middle of the street,” she also admits “it was not so. People came as if to the office. Very serious, very kind, and, first of all, very… gentle.” The organizers’ professionalism did not go unnoticed, neither did the “gentleness” of the participants remain unenvied! In the same article we are told about one of the “seemingly” characteristic problem which gays face: “finding a stable partner. And this is because they want sex to be something special, ‘like a fine chocolate’.” I wonder what the source of this opinion is… and which heterosexual would not want the same thing! Adevarul nr. 3211, 5 October 2000—“In Bucharest, the ‘nest of repression’, the first International Conference of the Gay and Lesbians ever organized in Romania” (A.C., R.P.). Subtitle reads: “The leader of the pederasts attacks the State and the Church.” Leaving apart the wording used, the article does not say how the State was attacked; it only mentions that “ACCEPT, the Romanian ‘specialized’ organization” is now undertaking a “continual fight against Article 200 from the Criminal Law Code.” Or, as the journalists mistakenly believe, “ACCEPT fights for the introduction of the ‘anal orifice’ in the law text defining sexual relations.” There is a major difference between a campaign against discrimination and a subversive attitude against the State, and the reporter’s accusation is a serious one. Towards the final we find out that the “series of criticisms was continued by the chief of the Romanian gays, who attacked the Romanian Orthodox Church, saying that the latter ‘launches aggressions directed against the sexual minorities and supports fascist-type organizations’.” The identity of the “Chief” remains unveiled, and the accompanying picture lets us choose between Mr. Buhuceanu, President of ACCEPT, and Mr. Coman, the Executive Director. In either case, the image of dangerous conspirators threatening the safety and well-being of the entire nation is shattering. Jurnalul National nr. 3101, 9 October 2000—“The VIPs turned their backs on the Gay Conference.” The title speaks the truth, as the representatives of the Romanian State and of the main political parties were absent from the conference, in spite of invitations being sent by ACCEPT. We smiled finding out that the sexual minorities in Romania have “backward inclinations” wondering how that might be said about lesbians… Same day, from the editorial by Adrian Halpert in Libertatea we find out how Romanians look at the sexual minorities issue “The greatest gain is in the way Romanians—well done!—intelligently ignored…” We could not say the same thing about some of the public institutions, such as the Romanian Orthodox Church, or the “National-Christian Youth raised in Legionary Spirit” organization, whose anti-gay posters flooded the city.  A pleasant surprise were several balanced articles written by reporters who proved to be professional and objective, in spite of the titles displaying here and there apparent tabloid tones. Of the latter we remind only a few: “Gays meet in Conference in Bucharest” (Azi, 5 October, not signed), “Scholarships for Lesbians” (Evenimentul Zilei, 5 October, Catalin Nistor), “Gay and Lesby in European Conference in Bucharest” (National, 6 October, Teo Postelnicu). Trying to ignore the review full of “sensational” facts, in fact distorted by many mistaken facts and a lot of exaggeration, published in Ziua on the LGBT party in Disco Casablanca, we are glad that there were instances where newspapers contained themselves to presenting events objectively, and cutting out homophobic attitudes, insinuations, or violent and aggressive language. We can therefore hope that both the conference, and the impact it had on those keen on the newspapers, are nothing more than a step forward towards a more tolerant Romania.