Romanian Senate Bans Gay Marriage

The amendment was proposed by a group of 26 MPS, most of which are members of the far-right Greater Romania Party (PRM). The group also included social democrats (PSD), democrats (PD), liberals (PNL) and one independent MP.

 

The Senate, which is the first chamber notified, enacted the proposal 38 to ten and 19 abstentions.

 

The current Family Code only stipulates that family is based on the freely consented union between spouses, and includes no provisions regarding gender.

 

The group of MPs that initiated the proposal said they aimed to leave no room for interpretation and to avoid requests for same-sex marriages.

 

The representative of the Justice Ministry in the Senate meeting proposed the rejection of the amendment not because the proposal was thought ungrounded, but because the ministry is working on a new Civil Code, which would include the issue of same-sex marriage.

 

"We agree with the proposals, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss them now because they will be included in the new Civil Code," the ministry official said.

 

The head of the Senate’s human rights committee, Gyorgy Frunda, was against the proposal to define marriage as the union between people of opposite sexes, although he does not approve of same-sex marriage.

 

"Dealing with this issue so abruptly is not a good solution for the future, nor is it wise,” he said, adding the introduction of such stipulations will have “very strong effects”. He said this would be “a hasty decision, with serious repercussions”, which would have Romania taken up with the European Court of Human Rights by members of the gay community.

 

Frunda also warned his fellow senators that "homosexuals have their rights” and said the issue should be thoroughly discussed by the civil society, lawmakers, sociologists and human rights experts.

 

Frunda added the issue of marriage is under debate with the Council of Europe and the European Court for Human Rights, and some EU countries have allowed same-sex marriages, despite fierce opposition on the part of the Catholic Church.

 

Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the Romanian government opining Romanian lawmakers should reject the proposal to amend the Family Code.