Romanians will vote this weekend in a referendum on whether to redefine marriage in the country’s constitution as the “union between a man and a woman” rather than a union “between spouses”.
Romania decriminalized homosexuality in 2001, later than most neighbouring states, but same-sex marriage is still banned by law.
The referendum comes after three years of political debates over LGBT rights in Romania, and after the socially conservative Coalition for the Family – an umbrella organization for right-wing and church-backed NGOs – raised 3.2 million signatures and submitted a bill to parliament to ban gay marriage in the constitution as well.
The Senate voted in favour of the referendum on September 11, after the lower chamber approved it in June 2017.
The referendum has attracted controversy at home and abroad.
International human rights organizations, and politicians in Brussels, have criticized Romania’s government for allowing it to take place.
Human Rights Watch’s director for LGBT Rights Programs called the referendum ”cynical” and “redundant” in a release on the organization website on October 3.
“Who gets to enjoy their human rights should not be decided by popular vote, and this referendum is particularly opportunistic and insidious,” he said.
The European Socialist Party grilled Romania’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on September 25, accusing Romanian Social Democrats of supporting an initiative that goes clearly against the values of the European left.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled on June 5 that Romania must allow residency for third-country spouses of EU citizens, regardless of gender.
Late in September, Romania’s Constitutional Court also ruled that LGBT people have the constitutional right to a family.
Local rights organizations have called for a boycott of the plebiscite, which needs a 30-per-cent turnout – equal to about 5 million votes – to be declared valid.
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