Government and Church Synod reach agreement on Antidiscrimination Law

The Antidiscrimination Law will be adopted, but it will run counter to none of the Christian norms, Head of Parliament Marian Lupu said after a meeting with His Holiness Vladimir and members of the Church Synod, Info-Prim Neo reports. Marian Lupu stated that the Antidiscrimination Law emphasizes certain constitutional rights of the country’s people. That’s why it should be passed. According to the Speaker, there are solutions to prevent this bill from being in contradiction to the national traditions and Christians norms. Though a final bill wasn’t submitted to Parliament, steps will be taken for it to be passed in a form that will be supported by the public authorities, the Orthodox Church and whole society. “The people do not know the content of this bill and misinterpret it. The latest discussions are based on emotions and unawareness of this bill’s content. When reading this bill, one realizes that it does not run counter to the Orthodox principles,” said Marian Lupu. He also said that the Antidiscrimination Law will not refer to possibilities of creating families between persons of the same sex, adoption of children by such families, changes of the notions of ‘mother’ and ‘father’ and other things that are not on line with the Christian norms. The Metropolitan Bishop of Chisinau and All Moldova Vladimir welcomed the intention to look for acceptable solutions concerning the Antidiscrimination Law and the invitation made to the representatives of the Orthodox Church to attend the Parliament’s sitting, where this bill will be debated. “In general, the law is normal, except for the phrase ‘sexual orientation’,” he stated. The Government’s press service issued a communiqué, saying the bill is being drafted and its adoption will be preceded by additional discussions. “The Government will make effort to ensure the human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with Moldova’s European integration objective,” said Vlad Filat. He stressed the necessity of keeping a balance in the discussions on the issue and maintaining peace, especially now that the Easter holidays are coming. Adopting the Antidiscrimination Law is a condition imposed by the EU for liberalizing the visa regime for Moldova.