• January 17, 2001 - Adrian Georgescu accuses non-commissioned police officer of misconduct, infringement of right to private life
• January 19, 2001 - Police raid in Bucharest's gay disco
• MEP Joke Swiebel writes letter to Romanian MPs

Adrian Georgescu accuses non-commissioned police officer of misconduct,
infringement of right to private life
 
 

For the first time in Romania, a gay person breaks the silence before the press, accusing a non-commissioned police officer (NCO) of infringement of the right to private life and misconduct. The press conference was organised by ACCEPT (Bucharest Acceptance Group) and the Romanian Helsinki Committee APADOR-CH on January 17, 2001 in Bucharest.

Adrian Georgescu stated that, on December 14, 2000, he had received a phone call from NCO Razvan Ciorchina from Bucharest Police Department. Georgescu was invited to the police station, without being told the reason for which he was called, not even after he specifically asked for it. On December 19, 2000, Georgescu went to the police, where NCO Ciorchina interviewed him without specifying the reason of the inquiry. Ciorchina focused on the Georgescu’s private life. The latter recalled, “I was asked whether I had had relations with women, with how many of them and how often, then the same thing about my relations with men. He asked me if I was gay, who my partners were, how I knew them, how I have sex, namely to specify the positions in bed, whether I was active or passive, and if I masturbate.”

Georgescu added, “… The NCO asked to see my personal phone book … he urged me to tell him the sexual orientation of the people whose names appeared in the book … he offended me, calling me a <faggot>…” When Georgescu was called by his boyfriend on his personal mobile phone, NCO Ciorchina threatened him with taking his mobile away, unless he didn’t say who the caller was.

The examination finished with a written statement, which was dictated to Georgescu by the NCO. Afterwards, he was photographed and his fingerprints were taken. Georgescu asked for a written proof of his presence at the police station, in order to help him motivate the absence from work. The NCO signed a form and filled it in, as though he had sent it on December 14, 2000. Upon leaving the Police station, NCO Ciorchina asked Adrian Georgescu not to tell anyone about his being invited to the Police and neither about the investigation, threatening him that “he would be called again”.

Throughout the investigation, the NCO did not inform Adrian Georgescu that the latter had the right to be assisted by a lawyer.

Lawyer Monica Macovei, vice-president of APADOR-CH, said, during the same press conference, that the NCO committed the offences stipulated in article 247 (“Abuse while on duty by infringement of rights”) and article 250, paragraph 1 (“Misconduct”) from the Penal Code, and infringed article 16, letter c), Chapter IV, from Police Law no. 26/1994. According to the lawyer, the NCO also infringed the constitutional provisions on the right to private life, as well as the ones of Government Ordinance no. 137/2000 “on preventing and punishing all forms of discrimination”, in force since November 1, 2000.

Monica Macovei stated that, first and foremost, Adrian Georgescu should have been invited to the police station on the basis of a written summons that should have also mentioned the reasons of the invitation and whether he was charged with anything. The lawyer said that the questions that Georgescu was asked, the fact that the NCO read his phone book and requested Georgescu to identify the gays in a list of names, were illegal. “The facts do not even comply with the provisions in the [anti-gay] article 200 from the Penal Code, he had not been involved in any public scandal”, Monica Macovei added.

After the press conference, NCO Ciorchina denied, before the media, most of Adrian Georgescu’s statements. Also, NCO Ciorchina stated that more gay men, including some members of ACCEPT (Bucharest Acceptance Group), had been interviewed by the Police within the same investigation, which attempts to find out the murderers of Stefan Itoafa, chairman of Constanta City branch of The League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADO). Itoafa was killed in 1998 and he, according to police data, was also gay. Ciorchina says that Georgescu’s name appeared in Itoafa’s phone book.

However, the NCO provided contradictory statements to the media, from one day to another. While on January 17, 2001, he told Antena 1 TV that the “discussion” did not contain “any reference to [Georgescu’s] sexual orientations, nor practices”, on January 18 he admitted, during “Teo – Talkshow with Teo Trandafir” on ProTV, that he had asked Georgescu whether he was homosexual and that Georgescu’s sexual orientation was one of the reasons for which he had been invited to the Police. During the show on ProTV, Razvan Ciorchina was accompanied by colonel Dinca Marin from Bucharest Police Department. The latter said that the suspects in this case (“hundreds of persons”) had not been told the reason for which they were invited to the police station when phonecalled, “because this way we would make [the suspect] aware of why he is invited [to the police station]”. This live show was also attended by Adrian Georgescu, Monica Macovei, and Florin Buhuceanu, the president of ACCEPT.

Adrian Georgescu filed a complaint against NCO Razvan Ciorchina at the General Police Department and to the Military Prosecutor’s Office within the Supreme Court of Justice. If his complaints are not solved, he will file a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, with the support of ACCEPT ad APADOR-CH. On his turn, NCO Ciorchina announced his intention to file lawsuit against Adrian Georgescu for libel.

According to TV stations TVR 1 and Antena 1 on January 17, 2001, the Military Prosecutor’s Office will start an investigation on this case.

Art. 247 from the Penal Code:

- “A public employee’s limitation of a citizen’s using or exercising his or her rights, or creating a situation of inferiority based on the citizen’s nationality, race, sex, or religion, shall be punished by imprisonment of 6 months to 5 years.”
 

Article 250, Penal Code, paragraph 1:

- “A public employee’s using offensive language against a person, while the public employee is on duty, shall be punished with imprisonment from 3 months to 3 years or fine.”
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Police Raid in Bucharest’s Gay Disco

On Friday, January 19, 2001, around 11:00 pm Police organized a raid at Casablanca Disco Club in Bucharest which is known for its LGBT clientele. Nearly 20 police officers, checked the IDs of the customers, taking more than 30 of them, who could not provide an ID, to the police station. The action was videotaped by a police cameraman.
These customers were taken with two vans to Bucharest Police Station No. 14. There, the Police recorded their names, took their pictures and fingerprints.

This raid was organized two days after the press conference of ACCEPT and the Romanian Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH), which revealed the abuse of a non commissioned police officer against a gay person. The raid is a reason of  great concern for ACCEPT and an intimidation for the LGBT community, given that article 200 of the Romanian Penal Code has not been repealed.
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MEP Joke Swiebel writes letter to Romanian MPs

Letter by Joke Swiebel
Member of the European Parliament
for the Party of European Social-Democrats
chairperson of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights
 

To

Mr Ion Iliescu, President of Romania
Mr Ioan Solcanu, Chairman of the PDSR fraction in the Romanian Senate
Mr Attila Verestoy, Chairman of the PDSR fraction in the Romanian Senate
Mr Petre Roman, Chairman of the PDSR fraction in the Romanian Senate
Mr Radu Alexandru Feldman, Chairman of the PDSR fraction in the Romanian Senate
Mr Corneliu Vadim Tudor,

(Letters sent by mail, individually, in English)
 

Brussels, 1 February 2001

Dear Sir,

First of all, I would like to congratulate you with your election into the Senate and your nomination as Chairman of the [name of political party]. I wish you all the success for the coming years.

As member of the European Parliament for the Party of European Social-Democrats and Chairperson of the European Parliament’s Intergroup for Gay and Lesbian Rights, may I call your attention to article 200 of the Romanian Penal Code. This provision is not compatible with modern European standards and with international commitments of Romania, as it puts different sanctions on same-sex relationships, as opposed to heterosexual relationships. It, therefore is clearly discriminatory to persons on the sole ground of their sexual orientation.

In article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty (of the EU), sexual orientation is explicitly mentioned as non-discrimination ground. In addition, at Helsinki (December 1999), the European Council confirmed that compliance with all the Copenhagen criteria is the basis for accession to the Union, and added that candidate countries “must share the values and objectives of the European Union as set out in the Treaties.”

The draft law to repeal article 200 of the Romanian Penal Code passed the Chamber of Deputies on June 28, 2000 and now awaits to be dealt with in the Senate. I call on you, Mr Chairman, to do, for your part, your utmost best to put an end to this discrimination by law of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

I had the chance to visit Romania in October 2000 to attend the European Conference of the International Lesbian and Gay Association hosted by the Romanian organisation ACCEPT. I saw the many activities deployed by activists for
 human rights of lesbians and gays. I  have come to follow the negative effects of the antigay law on the lesbian and gay community in your country, most recently the abuse of a gay man by a police official. As human rights are a key issue in the light of Romania’s accession to the Union, this on-going situation is of great concern to me as member of the European Parliament.

Moreover, as you are probably aware, in August 2000 an Anti-Discrimination Ordinance was adopted by the Romanian Government. It forbids all forms of discrimination, among which that on the ground of sexual orientation. Consequently, Romania has one of the most progressive anti-discrimination provisions into force worldwide. I regard it as a sign of the attention paid to combating discrimination in Romania, and hope that the remaining steps will soon be taken towards producing the legal effect for which this provision was created.

Let me finish by wishing you Mr [position], once again, all the best in addressing the questions and issues put before you in your position as member of the Romanian Senate.

Yours sincerely,

Joke Swiebel
Member of the European Parliament
for the Party of European Social-Democrats
chairperson of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights
 
 

• The Project “Improving the Romanian LGBT Community"
• Communiqué - June 27, 2000 - ACCEPT hopes that the Romanian deputies will abolish article 200 from the Penal Code
• Communiqué - June 28, 2000 - ACCEPT welcomes the decision made by the Romanian Chamber of Deputies to abolish article 200
• Communiqué - July 6, 2000 - ACCEPT informs about the organisation of "ACCEPTing Diversity" Conference in Bucharest
• July 8, 2000 - Canadian MP Visits ACCEPT Centre
• August 10, 2000 - Press release by ILGA-Europe and ACCEPT : "Bucharest Conference to Focus on the Major Potential for Promoting LGBT Rights at European Level"
• September 4, 2000 - Open letter to the Romanian Senators
• September 4, 2000 - Public letter addressed to His Beatitude Teoctist, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
• Communiqué - September 6, 2000 - ACCEPT welcomes the Romanian Government’s passing the Ordinance on preventing and punishing all forms of discrimination
• Gay disco every Friday at "Casablanca" Dance Club in Bucharest's Sala Polivalenta
• October 8, 2000 - Press Release by ILGA-Europe. ILGA-Europe Calls on Romanian Senate To Repeal Laws Criminalising Same-Sex Relations

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The Project “Improving the Romanian LGBT Community"

In view of running the project “Improving the Romanian LGBT Community" and of starting and encouraging the Romanian lesbian movement, we invite you to contact ACCEPT in order to identify initiative and support groups throughout the country.

Contact Persons:
                Elena Mititelu - Project Co-ordinator
                Alina Nistor - Vice-president

Please contact us at:
                ACCEPT, PO Box 34-56 , Bucharest
                Phone: 01 252 16 37
                Fax: 01 252 56 20
                Email: accept@fx.ro
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Bucharest, June 27, 2000

Contact Person: Adrian Coman, Executive Director

Phone: +40 - 1 - 252 16 37 / +40 - 1 - 252 56 20

Email address: accept@fx.ro

Accept web site address: http://accept.ong.ro

ACCEPT is endorsing the decision made by the Legal Committee of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies to approve the draft bill on amending the Penal Code.

ACCEPT hopes that this time the Chamber of Deputies will vote in favour of abolishing article 200 from the Penal Code, thus putting an end to discrimination by law of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals in Romania.

The only European countries or territories that still have an anti-gay legislation are Armenia, the Republic of Srpska within Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Chechnya. In this respect, one should not be surprised if Romania starts being monitored again by the Council of Europe. The deadline when Romania was supposed to have eliminated certain articles from the Penal Code, among which article 200, was April the 24th, 1998, according to Resolution 1123/1997 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The human rights situation must be as stated by the Romanian officials, who consider that Romania has fulfilled its international commitments regarding this aspect. This is going to be false as long as a certain segment of the population, id est the sexual minorities, is still discriminated by the law.

We also hope that more and more lesbians, gays, and bisexuals living in Romania will cease to lead a double life and start coming out to their familes, friends, and co-workers. Only in this way the mainstream society is likely to change its view on homosexuality. We do hope that the Romanian lesbians, gays, and bisexuals will soon be able to celebrate Christopher Street Day, as a symbol of accepting human diversity.

On June 28, 2000, it is the 31st anniversary of the “Stonewall Inn Rebellion” which meant the starting point of the fight for the equality in terms of rights of the lesbians, gays, and bisexuals.

On the evening of June 28, 1969, New York Police entered the gay bar “Stonewall Inn” from Greenwich Village in order to shut the place up “once and for all”, under the pretext that alcoholic drinks were sold there without a license issued by the municipality.

The customers of the bar – gays, lesbians, and transvestites - no longer let themselves be intimidated and started to fight the police officers, which turned into a massive public protest movement against gay discrimination and intimidation by law. The event took three days and it is known in the history of the lesbian/gay movement as “The Stonewall Inn Rebellion”. June 28, 1969 became the first day of the lesbian and gay emancipation movement, celebrated under the name of “Cristopher Street Day”.

In Romania, ACCEPT has been militating for LGBT rights since 1995. In 1998, ACCEPT submitted its own draft bill to amend the Penal Code provisions related to sex life to the Ministry of Justice. The draft bill was based on the principle of equality in terms of legal treatment of the same-sex and heterosexual relations.

By means of its projects, ACCEPT is trying to inform the public opinion about what homosexuality is and what it is not, to build up the Romanian LGBT community, and to run psychological and medical counselling services for the members of this community.
 

ACCEPT Communiqué
 

Bucharest, June 28, 2000

ACCEPT welcomes the decision made by the Romanian Chamber of Deputies to
abolish article 200, in the broader context of the reform of the Penal
Code.
ACCEPT hopes that the Senate will agree with this amendment, thus
eventually observing one of Romania’s commitments, namely of harmonising
the Romanian legislation with the European standards in this field.

The effect of abolishing article 200 will consist in instituting the
equality by law of the Romanian citizens, regardless of their sexual
orientation.

Nevertheless, ACCEPT is highlighting the newly approved wording of
article 201 from the Penal Code regarding sexual perversions. We
consider that the lack of precise definition of the terms “sexual
perversions” and “unnatural acts” might lead to further abuses made by
the police or the magistrates.
 
 

Florin Buhuceanu
President of ACCEPT

ACCEPT Communiqué
 

ACCEPTarea Diversitatii / ACCEPTing Diversity
 

ACCEPT will organise, in Bucharest, the 22nd Annual Conference of ILGA-Europe (The European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association), October 4-8, 2000

Bucharest, July 6, 2000

ACCEPT, non-governmental organisation whose mission is to create a better society for gays and lesbians living in Romania, will organise, during October 4-8, 2000, the 22nd Annual Conference of ILGA-Europe, under the title “ACCEPTing Diversity”.

ILGA-Europe is the European Region of ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association), the main lobbying body for human rights for lesbians and gays with the Council of Europe, the European Union, and OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe). ILGA has a consultative statute with the Council of Europe. ACCEPT is a member of ILGA.

The Annual Conference of ILGA-Europe, structured in workshops and plenary sessions, will mainly focus on the legal status of lesbians and gays throughout Europe. The Conference in Bucharest will stress the importance of the European values regarding the acceptance of and the respect for human diversity, as well as the implications of the European Union enlargement process. The decision to organise this Conference in Bucharest was made in October 1998, hence being in no way related to the vote of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies to repeal article 200 (June 28, 2000).

In 1999, the Conference of ILGA-Europe took place in Pisa, Italy, under the patronage of the Italian Prime Minister and of the European Commission.

ACCEPT denies the news recently broadcast by the media according to which the association intends to organise a gay parade in Romania and, also, the information regarding this conference coming from any other sources. This information is the result of the tendency to associate homosexuality, among other things, with criminality, paedophilia, thus attempting to cast a very negative image upon the sexual minorities.

ACCEPT reiterates its position, namely that of incriminating by law rape and paedophilia, either committed by straight or gay people, and specifies that these crimes remain incriminated by the new draft of penal code by sole articles, to be enforced regardless of the criminal’s sexual orientation.

Continuing its open policy, ACCEPT is at the call of the press or any interested person with information regarding all its activities, the ILGA-Europe Conference included, on the Internet, at http://accept.ong.ro

Adrian Coman,

Executive Director
ACCEPT

Svend Robinson

. Canadian MP Visits ACCEPT Centre On Saturday, July 8, Mr. Svend Robinson, spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Human Rights for the New Democratic Party in Canada, and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, paid an informal visit to ACCEPT centre. Being in Romania on important business - the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly reunion in Bucharest -, Mr. Robinson - an old friend of ACCEPT - took the time to check out the latest developments in the life of Romanian lesbians and gays and to bring reassurance of his personal support and of the foreign politicians' support in general for the struggle that ACCEPT started years ago.

Member of the Canadian Parliament since 1979, Mr. Robinson came out as the first gay  MP in 1988. He spoke to the journalists and ACCEPT members and sympathisers who gathered on a hot summer day in the building in Lirei Street to welcome him, about his personal experience of being an open gay politician in his country and elsewhere, and answered questions related to this experience and to his supporting the Romanian lesbian and gay community.

Mr. Robinson says that he is certain that the struggle of our community will pay off sooner than the struggle in other countries, due to the open endorsement coming not only from foreign LGBT organisations, but also from strong political structures like the European Union, the Council of Europe, and even from OSCE. He said that wherever he goes in Romania, he asks politicians about their view on article 200. Very recently, during the OSCE session in Bucharest, he asked the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petre Roman if and when the Seante was to approve the repeal of article 200, as the Chamber of Deputies had. Mr. Roman replied that it is undoubtedly going to happen this autumn at the latest, when article 200 would "dead and burried".

Being asked what his advice would be regarding ACCEPT's next step after article 200 is abolished for good, Mr. Robinson said that ACCEPT members should write a book about the personal experiences and struggle for freedom of the people who had to suffer because of the anti-gay legislation. He said, "You are making history here, and it would be a pity for you not to share it with not only Romanians, but especially with the world. It would help a great deal lesbians and gays living countries like Uganda, Iran, or Zimbabwe, where homophobia is even tougher that it has ever been in Romania, to find hope and the strength to carry on and never let go the fight for freedom."

PRESS RELEASE BY ILGA EUROPE AND ACCEPT, BUCHAREST
Bucharest Conference to Focus on the Major Potential for Promoting LGBT Rights at European Level

The 22nd ILGA European Annual Conference, entitled “Accepting Diversity”, is to be held in Bucharest from 4 to 8 October 2000. The conference is supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation (Berlin) and hosted by ACCEPT, Romania’s national organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The main objectives of the conference are:
- To bring together leading LGBT activists from across Europe to discuss the practical ramifications of highly promising developments within the European Union and Council of Europe with regard to LGBT human rights.
- To map out an action programme whereby ILGA Europe and its national member organisations will seek to ensure these developments are fully implemented, at both the European and national levels.
- To discuss the ramifications of these developments for EU accession countries, thereby especially working to strengthen LGBT movements in Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe.
- To provide an international networking forum in which leading LGBT activists and representatives from European and national institutions can work to strengthen the connections between European institutions and the promotion of LGBT human rights.

The conference will also be of great symbolic and media importance within Romania, and its timing is crucial. Romania has one of the worst records of any European country for the treatment of its LGBT citizens.  However this situation may be changing. Pressure from European institutions and Romanian human rights activists has provoked widespread public debate on lesbian and gay rights in Romania. In June, the Chamber of Deputies voted to repeal the notorious Article 200 of the Romanian Criminal Code, which effectively criminalizes homosexual acts. The vote in the Romanian Senate is due to take place in September, shortly before the conference. The conference is therefore likely to arouse great media interest, and its presence in Bucharest will provide an extraordinary opportunity to demonstrate international support for LGBT rights in Romania.

Conference programme

The centrepiece of the conference programme will be two Keynote Panel Discussions and a series of workshops addressing the main objectives of the conference described above.
The Keynote Panel Discussions will focus on these objectives from a European and national perspective respectively, and are planned to feature speakers representing the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and national parliaments. They will be open to the media and general public and will therefore provide a great opportunity to reach a wide audience.
The workshops will look at these issues in more detail, as follows:
- The European Union’s plans for banning employment discrimination, including that based on sexual orientation
- The Charter of Fundamental Rights currently being developed by the Union
- The process by which the 13 would-be EU members in Central, Eastern, South-eastern and Southern Europe will join the EU, and the scope this process gives for promoting LGBT rights.
- The EU’s plans for developing a common approach to asylum and immigration, and the opportunity this presents for achieving recognition of LGBT rights in these areas.
- The importance of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the practicalities involved in fighting cases of sexual orientation discrimination under the Convention.

Workshops dealing with developments at the national level are also planned, including recent experience of campaigning for legal recognition of same-sex couples in the Czech Republic, France, Germany and Latvia, and the challenges faced by those setting up LGBT human rights organisations in Eastern Europe.  There will also be a focus on co-operation between LGBT organisations, both within Eastern Europe, and between Eastern and Western Europe.
The Conference is also ILGA-Europe’s Annual General Meeting, and will therefore include a number of matters such as the election of the Board, and approval of the Annual Report and Work Programme for the coming year. Only the representatives of fully paid up members will be entitled to vote.

Sponsorship by the Heinrich Böll Foundation

This year, the conference is being organized in co-operation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the non-profit political foundation affiliated with the Green Party in Germany. Their support will make possible the public Keynote Panel Discussions referred to above, the participation of legal experts, and the presence of significant numbers of activists from Central, Eastern, and South-eastern Europe.
The conference is also supported by the ASTREA foundation, which has made available funds for scholarships for lesbian participants from Eastern Europe.

Practical information

The conference is open to all LGBT activists. However, LGBT activists involved in running national LGBT organisations, or who are especially interested in LGBT activism at the European level, are particularly encouraged to attend, including  those from  Central, Eastern, and South-eastern Europe.
Conference registration forms are accessible at the web site of the host organisation, ACCEPT: http://accept.ong.ro.
Some scholarships are available for participants from Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries. The scholarship application form can also be found at the ACCEPT web site.  The deadline for scholarship applications is 23rd August. Applicants demonstrating that they will make a concrete contribution to the conference, and to the promotion of LGBT rights in their own countries, are more likely to be supported. Other material about the conference, including a provisional programme, is also available at the web site.
Any queries should be addressed to ACCEPT at  accept@fx.ro

ILGA EUROPE
ILGA Europe is the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. It is a Europe-wide federation of 150 national and local groups dedicated to achieving equal rights for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people throughout Europe.

Open letter to the Romanian Senators
Bucharest, September 4, 2000
 
 

Dear Madam/Sir,
 

ACCEPT (Bucharest Acceptance Group) calls on you to pass the draft bill to harmonize several provisions from the Penal Code and the Penal procedure Code with Resolution no. 1123/1997 of the council of Europe, drawn by the Romanian Government and providing, among other things, the repeal of anti-gay article 200 from the Penal Code.
ACCEPT makes this appeal because:

- No European country has another “article 200” oriented against gays and lesbians, and homosexuality is nowhere in Europe associated with serious offenses like rape or paedophilia, which are strongly condemned by ACCEPT. These crimes must be punished, but not through separate articles, regardless of the offender’s sexual orientation. The Government-drawn draft bill regulates this principle and we call on you to pass it through your vote.

- By means of passing this draft bill, Romania will comply with the international agreements and will regulate the equality by law of all its citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation. Article 200 denies fundamental rights to gays and lesbians, such as the right to private life, to the freedom of association and expression, regulating a discrimination by law. Regardless of its wording, article 200 will continue to be a special law against homosexuals and will attract the criticism of the Council of Europe, the European Union, western governments, and human rights organisations.

Through your vote, you can eliminate this discrimination.

- The European political trend is to ensure the equality of the lesbian and gay people with the heterosexuals, and to forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation.  This is why the Council of Europe and the European Union are so strict about having article 200 abolished.

Thus, on June 30, 2000, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe debated upon a set of calls for the European countries to remove all discrimination in their criminal law and to introduce anti-discrimination provisions protecting lesbians and gays in the European Convention of Human Rights. During the debate, the leader of the Romanian delegation ensured the parliamentarians that the Romanian Senate would repeal article 200 until the next reunion of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, whose final vote is due to take place this month. The firm stand of the Council of Europe may result in resuming the Romania’s monitoring, which would deny our country’s democracy and modernity.

On the other hand, in its Resolution on September 17, 1998, the European Parliament stated that it “would not agree with a country’s accession if this country, through its legal system or policy, violates lesbian and gay rights”. This strict stand of the European Union is also reflected in article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty, where sexual orientation is introduced among the non-discriminatory criteria. Romania must comply with the letter and the principle of this Treaty.

Your decision may confirm Romania’s status, of human rights and fundamental freedom warrantor, which is in close relation with its quality of a democratic country.

We are aware that several religious institutions are pressing you to maintain article 200 in force. Nevertheless, we know that Romania is a laic country, where you have the power and the responsibility to ensure the legal basis for observing the human rights.

Your vote may prove that Romania is a democratic country where all citizens must comply with the same laws, for same offences.

Respectfully yours,
 

Florin Buhuceanu
President
ACCEPT (Bucharest Acceptance Group)

ACCEPT is a Romanian non-governmental, not-for-profit human rights organisation working for gays and lesbians.

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Public letter addressed to His Beatitude Teoctist, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church

Bucharest, September 4, 2000
 
 

Dear Father Patriarch,
 

This letter is addressed to the spiritual father of a Church where God is building and constantly reinforcing the communion with the man who is in pain, who is hoping, and eventually dying. The author of this letter belongs, by baptism and belief, to this spiritual community within which he first listened to the Scripture. I also belong to the Orthodox Church because I chose to, alongside other thousands of homosexuals who believe in the new command of love and sincerely pray for healing and life in Christ.

I have read, with care and respect, the letter that you wrote to the Romanian parliamentarians, a final attempt to block the repeal of article 200 from the Penal Code regarding the same-sex relations. You thought that this appeal, invoking Christ’s authority, would express, in the most effective manner, His love for our society as a whole, and also for this minority. I am sure that you heard of the effects of this law, which are known world-wide: People investigated by the police, imprisoned, many suicides and psychological breakdowns, professional and social exclusion. The “Christian” justice cannot conceal this terrifying evidence! Only in the most repressive political regimes, from the Nazi to comrade Mao’s regimes, from Stalin’s Russia to today’s Afghanistan, homosexuality has been forbidden in so cruel a manner. Prosecuted and condemned under Ceausescu’s regime, having to go through the same ill treatment after 1990, the Romanian homosexuals now risk to face the same fate because of the Romanian Orthodox Church’s interference and blessing!

Nothing in the Scripture, nor in the Church teaching justifies the discrimination of these persons. Their value and dignity cannot be reduced to their sexual orientation or behaviour. Each of these persons is, in himself, a spiritual category bearing an infinite value. “God loves the sinner, not  the sin”, preaches the Church. These persons, perhaps more than others, need God’s love, which is, first of all, confidence and mercy. Is the Romanian Orthodox Church a place of reconciliation for homosexuals?

Some Christians, priests, and lay people’s public stand proves that we do not trust God’s power to love one another. The Church fails to be the voice of these outlaws in a society that can imprison their bodies, break their hearts, and tear their spirit, condemning them to isolation and exclusion. The Church’s lack of concern for the problems of its homosexual members makes them repress themselves or even leave it. Priests are preaching against homosexuals before taking time to even listen and dialogue with them. Organisations under the authority of the Church denounce and denigrate them, maintaining and spreading prejudice and inaccurate information about homosexuality. This misguiding or ignorant witness against the homosexual neighbour has not been considered a serious sin by the Church. On the contrary, it has been endorsed by the Church one too many times. Nonetheless, the fact that the Church fails to meet its Christian believers who share a different sexual orientation will result in decreasing its credibility. Such an attitude shall not persuade the other member Churches of the World Council of Churches that the legalist mission of the Romanian Orthodox people is going to be fruitful and favoured by God. As a matter of fact, all the other mainly Orthodox countries – and I mean Russia, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Moldova – repealed the anti-gay legislation many years ago.

Homosexuality is not a sexual matter in itself, and reducing it to such a phenomenon means to lose the spiritual dimension of this reality of human nature. Thus, it is unacceptable to agree that same-sex relations should continue to be punished by law. God wants and claims a future for these people. The penal law could never be a solution for their future, and the Church should not agree of this. The solution must be a spiritual one, strongly related to the spiritual father, and not pressures at the Parliament, street protests, or invoking the national referendum. After all, who can separate homosexuals from God’s love?

Faithfully Yours,

Florin Buhuceanu
President of ACCEPT

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Communiqué - September 6, 2000
ACCEPT welcomes the Romanian Government’s passing the Ordinance on preventing and punishing all forms of discrimination

ACCEPT welcomes the Romanian Government’s passing the Ordinance on preventing and punishing all forms of discrimination, which explicitly stipulates that the discrimination based on sexual orientation is forbidden. This law places our country above many European states. It is an undeniable step forward which strengthens democracy and acknowledges the equality for all citizens, regardless of their race, nationality, ethnic background, language, religion, social status, beliefs, sex, and sexual orientation.

Thousands of Romanian lesbians and gays have had to go through and still are suffering from, a different treatment in terms of workplace, public services, the educational system, the freedom of circulation and, in general, all aspects of social life, just because of their sexual orientation. Quite frequently, ACCEPT is informed about violent infringements of rights from employees, tenants, or customers, and hopes that the enforcement of this ordinance will put an end to the numerous humiliations that the Romanian LGBT people have had to face. We also hope that the Romanian society will comply with the provisions of this ordinance.

ACCEPT is glad to notice the fact that the Government understood that sexual orientation must be included among the criteria for non-discrimination, prior to the repeal of article 200. This is a clear signal for the Romanian society and politicians, especially to the Senators, that this article is void and anachronic in a continent that is more and more tolerant with regard to the values of human diversity.

Bogdan Honciuc
ACCEPT Information Officer

Click to read the text of the ordinance. (Unofficial English translation)

Supported by ACCEPT,
A Romanian dance club is opening its gates to lesbians and gays for the first time ever!
Each Friday, Disco "Casablanca" organises a "lesbian and gay night"

On Friday, September 1, 2000, a historic event took place in Bucharest. For the first time in Romania, lesbians, gays, and bisexuals gathered for spending the night on the dance floor of "Casablanca" Disco, upon approval and, moreover, initiative of the club owner.

ACCEPT advertised for the event and 50 people came. A peer dance contest was organised, which was won by a lesbian couple. The msic was great: Madonna, George Michael, house, Ricky Martin, Alanis Morissette, Cher, Mel C., Enrique Iglesias, Whitney Houston, Marc Anthony, etc. ...

ACCEPT would like to thank Mr. Paul Constantin, the owner of the club, and his wife, DJ Paul, the kind waiters and bodyguards, and, not in the lest, the customers.

The story is repeating each Friday and Wednesday, same place. For additional information, please do not hesitate to contact ACCEPT at +4-01-2525620, e-mail accept@fx.ro.

Please note: Media representatives are not allowed. We kindly ask the journalists/cameramen/photographers to understand and not insist.

Bogdan Honciuc
ACCEPT Information Officer

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Bucharest, October 8, 2000
PRESS RELEASE BY ILGA-EUROPE

ILGA-EUROPE CALLS ON ROMANIAN SENATE TO REPEAL LAWS CRIMINALISING SAME-SEX RELATIONS

ILGA-Europe’s annual conference, meeting in Bucharest from 4-8 October, has called on the Romanian Senate to repeal Article 200 of the Romanian Criminal Code, which criminalises same-sex relations. In an open letter to the President of the Senate, the conference reminded the President of Romania’s repeated failure to honour its international obligations with regard to the repeal of Article 200. The most recent such commitment was a statement by the leader of the Romanian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in June 2000 that the Article 200 would be repealed by September 2000.

The letter goes on to point out that as recently as last week the European Parliament again addressed this question. While welcoming the attempts of the Romanian Government to abolish repressive legislation regarding sexual minorities it stressed to Romanian legislators that, in the context of accession to the European Union, basic human rights would at no point be open to negotiation.

ILGA-Europe advised the President of the Senate that it will monitor developments closely and will ensure that both the European Union and the Council of Europe are informed should Article 200 not be repealed during the current parliamentary session.

The 22nd ILGA European conference was attended by around 100 participants from 27 countries. The conference was honoured by the participation of Joke Swiebel, MEP, Boris Dittrich, Dutch MP, and Giampiero Alhadeff, president of the Brussels-based Platform of European Social NGOs.
The conference addressed the implications of the European Union’s policies to fight discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation both for the Member States and the accession countries and developed strategies for ensuring that governments implement these policies.

The conference organisers were pleased to note that week-long demonstrations called by right-wing and religious organisations failed to materialise. This was seen as evidence that public opinion in Romania is increasingly accepting of human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons.

The delegates voted to accept the invitation of the Dutch national lesbian and gay organisation COC to hold next year’s conference in Rotterdam. The annual conference in 2002 will be hosted by OPUS GAY in Lisbon.

The Executive board of ILGA Europe
 

ILGA Europe                                                 ACCEPT
81, rue Marche-au-charbon                            CP 34-56, Bucharest
B-1000 Bruxelles                                          tel/fax: 252 5620 / 252 1637
ieboard@egroups.com                              accept@fx.ro

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