When two false bomb alarms targeted an LGBTQ festival in Chisinau this month, organizer Angelica Frolov was left scrambling to find an alternative venue at the last minute.
Days before a crucial election in which Moldova’s pro-EU President Maia Sandu seeks to win a second term, Frolov accused Russia of misinformation and accused Russia of using the LGBTQ community as “unwitting” pawns. He accused them of waging an “information war.”
“We are being used,” the 50-year-old activist told AFP. “Moldova’s homophobia is being exploited in this war.”
Pro-Russian parties in the small country of 2.6 million people, which borders Ukraine, are using anti-LGBTQ bias to stoke anger against Sandu and the European Union.
They accuse the EU of trying to destroy the former Soviet republic “through moral debauchery and mockery of the Christian faith by LGBT propaganda.”
– “lie” –
Research shows that anti-LGBTQ sentiment is widespread across Moldova, but has weakened in recent years.
According to Frolov’s group GENDERDOC-M (GDM), 33 percent of people surveyed in Chisinau in 2021 agreed with homophobic ideas, down from more than 55 percent in 2019.
Still, nearly 70 percent of Moldovans do not want LGBTQ people as neighbors, according to a 2023 survey by another NGO.
During the election campaign, pro-Russian factions of the opposition frequently accused Sandu of promoting LGBTQ interests.
Her image was used in a deepfake video this year in which she appeared to support the LGBTQ community.
The Prime Minister’s chief of staff said “pro-Russian forces linked to fugitive oligarchies” were responsible for the forgeries and said they were “trying to jeopardize European integration through gross forgeries.”
Sandu applied for Moldova to join the EU in 2022, immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine, and negotiations began in June.
The former World Bank economist won the first round of the October 20 presidential election, but faces a tough second round on Sunday against former prosecutor Alexander Stoianoglo, who is backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party.
A referendum on EU membership, also held on October 20, passed by a narrow margin, with the government accusing Russia of “unprecedented” vote-buying and other dirty tricks.
Russia “categorically” denied intervening.
Mr Sandu said this week that people needed to know the benefits of joining the EU and “what they stand to lose if we abandon this path”, lamenting “a lot of misinformation”.
“We have to fight lies and fear-mongering throughout our lives,” she said.
– ‘I was scared’ –
Fugitive pro-Russian politician and businessman Ilan Shor wrote on Telegram in September that the LGBTQ festival in Chisinau was supported by Sandu and organized by an NGO linked to US billionaire George Soros. He wrote that it was a “new gay party.”
“Having an LGBT festival in an Orthodox country on the eve of an election is Sandu’s best anti-advertisement,” wrote Shor, who was born in Israel and now lives in Russia.
Marina Tauber, a member of Moldova’s close aides, asked whether Moldovans really wanted to see the same “bacchanalia” in Chisinau as the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. One scene at the ceremony featured drag queens dressed as Greek gods.
Meanwhile, a fake document on social networks claimed that the government had granted leave to participants of the four-day LGBTQ festival.
Frolov, who has organized the festival for six years, believes this type of misinformation has long influenced elections.
“We’ve been seeing and hearing things like this” since around 2016, when Sandu was unsuccessful in his first presidential bid, Frolov said.
Frolov said Moldovans were “afraid” of voting for pro-Russian parties due to a misinformation campaign, and admitted he was nervous about what would happen if the Kremlin “seizes us” after Sunday’s vote. Ta.
Ani/Jayza/FG
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