DISINFO: The US orders that Europe be inundated with LGBT
SUMMARY
An LGBT festival is scheduled to take place in June 2021 in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. By order of the US, Europe has become full of crazy people, who are portrayed as “victims”. The new president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, has promised that Moldova will sign the Istanbul Convention as soon as possible. The Istanbul Convention is being actively criticised due to its ambiguous definition of gender and promotion of homosexuality.
RESPONSE
A recurring disinformation narrative about the Istanbul Convention, falsely claiming that the Convention threatens traditional values and promotes homosexuality. This narrative corresponds with the Kremlin’s consistent portrayal of the West as morally decadent and liberal values as posing an existential threat to the traditional family structure.
The Istanbul Convention, short for the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, is an international human rights treaty of the Council of Europe. As such, the legally binding norms envisioned in the Convention were formulated by representatives of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe (which includes Russia and Moldova), and not by US authorities as the pro-Kremlin outlet implies. As of 9 June 2021, the Istanbul Convention had been signed and ratified by 33 European countries, all members of the Council of Europe, and had also been signed by the EU as an international organisation.
The primary purpose of the Istanbul Convention is the development of a European-wide legal framework for the protection of women against violence and domestic abuse. Key articles of the Istanbul Convention create obligations to prevent all forms of violence against women, to promote equality between men and women, to protect and support all victims of violence, and to ensure that victims can claim compensation from the offender. Contrary to the claims made, the Istanbul Convention does not threaten the concept of family or traditional values in any way, nor does it promote any sort of sexuality.
The twentieth annual LGBT+ Community Festival in Moldova has no obvious or direct connection to the Istanbul Convention, other than being an act in support of victims of violence from a particular demographic in Moldova.
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