Thirty-five rights groups and NGOs have urged Romanian legislators to uphold the rights of same-sex couples in line with a European Court of Human Rights ruling.
The ECHR ruled on May 23 that Romania had failed to enforce the rights of same-sex couples by refusing to legally recognize their relationships.
Despite the ruling, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said last month Romania was not „ready” to recognize same-sex families and would defy the ruling which would grant greater protection to individuals in same-sex relationships.
Romania holds local, European, parliamentary and presidential elections in 2024 and same-sex marriage is likely to become an issue. Only one parliamentary party, the progressive USR, supports greater legal protections for the LGBT community in the socially conservative nation.
„All families deserve recognition and legal protection,” said a petition signed by thirty-five rights groups.
„The Romanian state, through the government and parliament, must offer solutions… for all of its citizens.”
The petition, which was initiated by the ACCEPT association, urged parliament to legalize same sex-marriages, to recognize same-sex marriages carried out abroad and to approve civil unions. It currently does none of these.
Romania decriminalized homosexuality in 2001, decades later than other parts of the European Union. It still bars marriage and civil partnerships for same-sex couples.
Seven legislative proposals to change civil unions to include same-sex couples have either been rejected or have not yet made it through parliamentary approval committees.
