About 85% of the Moldovan population would not accept an LGBT+ person as a member of their family, and more than 60% would not accept an LGBT+ person as a neighbour or work colleague.

 

This is evidenced by the Centre for Partnership for Development’s (CPD) analysis of social adoption in 2024.

“The data show that Moldovan society continues to be polarised and dominated by prejudice,” ZdG quoted the authors of the study as saying. The study was conducted by the sociological company iData on behalf of the Centre for Partnership for Development and analysed on a sample of 1,035 inhabitants of villages and towns in Moldova the social distance in relation to the following 13 marginalised groups:

• people with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities;
• people with physical disabilities; – LGBT people;
• – people living with HIV;
• – people from the Roma ethnic group;
• – people who do not speak the state language;
• – people from the Russian ethnic group;
• – Jews residing in the Republic of Moldova;
• people of the Negroid race residing in the Republic of Moldova;
• – foreigners residing in the Republic of Moldova without citizenship;
• – Muslims;
• – other religious minorities;
• former prisoners.

“I was in a shop recently. I was wearing a headscarf, which I usually wear as part of my culture, and of all the shoppers there, I was the one who was accused of theft, even though there was no good reason for it. I was denied the right to make a complaint. It was a clear moment of discrimination. I, a person of Roma ethnicity, at what distance should I keep from society? It is clear to me that I will not keep my distance. I was a part of this society and I will continue to be,” said human rights defender Elvira Drangoi.

Also among the most marginalised groups are people living with HIV/AIDS and former prisoners. The majority of the population (over 60%) would not accept them as family members or friends, but would be more tolerant of them in working relationships or as neighbours.

“The Moldovan population does not want to build social relations with LGBT+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS, but is willing to accept them as citizens of the country. In the next category, depending on the level of acceptance, there are four other minority groups: ex-prisoners, Muslims, people of African descent and members of the Roma ethnic group. For these groups, citizens would not accept them as family members, friends or neighbours, but are willing to work with them,” said Natalia Kovrig, executive director of the Centre for Partnership for Development.

The visibility of LGBTQ+ people has increased significantly in recent years, says Angela Frolova, GDM administrator/coordinator of the LGBT rights lobbying and advocacy programme at the GDM Centre. According to the activist, there are more and more people speaking openly about it, and this dialogue can awaken empathy. But education is just as important, Frolov concludes. “In 2023, the distance to LGBT was 5.0, that is, acceptance at the level of guests of the country. In 2024, the coefficient was 3.8, that is, between a compatriot and a work colleague. Although the level of acceptance is still very low, but this jump of 1.2 points in one year is extremely high,” the Genderdoc-M administrator added.

The average level of social distance in Moldova was estimated at 2.1 in 2024 (compared to 2.24 in 2023) on a scale from 0 to 6, where 0 means that citizens accept a person from a minority group in all roles (family member, friend, neighbour, colleague, compatriot) and 6 means that they would expel him/her from the country. Compared to the previous year, in relation to some social groups (religious minorities, people of another nationality, people with physical disabilities and those who do not speak the state language), the level of tolerance and acceptance has decreased. Experts believe that this is due to political polarisation, an increase in incidents of hate speech and social pressure caused by multiple crises in the country.