Romania could legalise civil partnerships while banning same-sex marriage

A leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party in Romania has come out in support of civil partnerships for gay couples. In a speech made to the country’s parliament on Monday, Liviu Dragnea said that politicians could no longer “pretend that this minority does not exist.”

He went on to say that “I would like for us to discuss the opportunity to legalize civil partnerships. I asked Victor Negrescu (minister for European Affairs) to meet with NGOs representing this minority in order to get to pass proper legislation to sort this thing out.”

While making these comments Dragnea said they would continue to plans for a nation-wide referendum on whether the Romanian constitution should be amended to include a ban on same-sex marriage. Currently, the constitution says marriage is between spouses, the proposed change would have it that marriage is only between one man and one woman.

The Romanian Catholic Church criticised Dragnea’s comments, saying that civil partnerships would “contribute to the decline in the importance of marriage and the family, and change the decisive role the family plays in Romanian society.”

The church has considerable sway over the conservative Eastern European country, with approximately 85 percent of Romanians belonging to the church.

LGBT+ advocacy groups in the country have welcomed the support from Dragnea. Florin Buhuceanu, President of LGBT+ rights group Accept, said in a statement: “The regulation of the legal situation for same-sex couples is vital and would put an end to the suffering of community members in the hardest moments of life. In addition, the civil partnership means recognising that people in the community can enjoy equal rights in society, based on their contribution to Romania’s well-being as citizens.”

They remained worried, however, about the impending referendum: ‘We are concerned that the proposal for family redefinition in the constitution is being brought back into debate.’

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