Guest blogger: Irina Niţă, Director, ACCEPT Association
Several years ago I overheard someone talking during a coffee break, at a NGOs conference: ‘ACCEPT makes so much fuss, for what? For the less than 50 gay people who live in Romania!?’
Today there are still journalists who write about ‘hundreds of homosexuals’ living in Romania. Psychologists and psychiatrists ignore current scientific reality, and 40 years after homosexuality was removed from the list of mental diseases, continue to present homosexuality as a choice, as an effect of a trauma, or as a ‘treatable’ condition. And most of the Romanian lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and trans people continue to live an invisible life, fearing discrimination.
It’s a vicious circle: general public is unaware of the extent of LGBT issues related to civic rights because of LGBT’s invisibility, while LGBT people are forced to live a double life, in order to avoid stigmatizing reactions from uninformed neighbours, colleagues, friends and family members.
This is the context in which the significant support the British Embassy has offered for events organized each year within the GayFest, has started to work in changing minds. When embassy’s staff join the Diversity March, when support letters are signed, when the British Ambassador is hosting a special event on the occasion of the GayFest, the message sent is strong and clear: all citizens, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, are entitled to equal treatment, respect and dignity.
A huge thank you to all of you who are accompanying us on our way towards a society that appreciates and integrates diversity! We are looking forward to meeting you on Saturday, the 4th of June, at 17 hours, in Piata Unirii, for the 2011 Diversity March. I hope that this time we’ll overcome the limit of 300 participants we had in the last few years. I’ll be at one of the entrance points, welcoming you.
About Irina Niţă
I’ve been working at ACCEPT for 8 years, and for over 15 years in the nongovernmental sector. My initial educational background is geology; right now I study psychology – as a way to get some academic education that can help me directly in my work.
Freedom of expression, everybody’s right to dignity and respect for diversity are subjects that never get me bored. I am one of the lucky people who do as a job something that would still be my choice of activity, if I were not to earn a living.
I am also a trainer and I love the sparkle people have in their eyes when they understand or discover something new. Of course, like (almost) everybody in ACCEPT, I like cats. … And dogs.