The international Felis conference 2024, organised by the NGO Genderdoc with support of the EU/Council of Europe joint project “Combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova”, took place on 12-13 April 2024, in Chisinau Moldova. It aimed to raise awareness on issues faced by LGBTI children.
Accordingly, presentations and discussions focused on preventing bullying in schools, countering hate speech against LGBTI teenagers, as well as on developing strategies to build a more supportive and tolerant environment for LGBTI children in schools by advancing reforms locally.
The event commemorated the Moldovan young transgender teen named Felis, who committed suicide in 2022 because of severe bullying and hatred that she faced, and to remember all the LGBTI individuals lost because of queerphobia.
The conference brought together more than 130 participants - parents of LGBTI children, CSOs activists from all over the world, as well as representatives of anti-discrimination institutions and other relevant actors with expertise in the field of education and psychology from the Republic of Moldova. It provided a platform for exchange of experiences among parents, discussing challenges faced, promoting inclusion, ensuring adequate support and protection to those in need.
The protection of the human rights of LGBTI persons has always been one of the key priorities for the Council of Europe, and in this domain, the good cooperation has been established with the civil society organisations in the Republic of Moldova. The joint effort in supporting and protecting the human rights of LGBTI persons and other vulnerable groups shall be continued, taking into account relevant standards and examples of good practices at European and international level.
This activity was organised by Genderdoc-M with the support of the European Union and Council of Europe joint programme “Partnership for Good Governance”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the project “Combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova”.
