Rumänien zwischen Homophobie und Indifferenz
Romania between Homophobia and Indifference

The Debate on the Prohibition of Same-sex Marriage in the Romanian Constitution

Summary/Abstract: In October 2018, a referendum on banning same-sex marriage in the Romanian Constitution failed due to low turnout. Given the widespread conservative and homophobic attitudes in Romania, this result came as a surprise for most observers. Although same-sex marriage continues to be banned at the statutory law level, two judgments by the European Court of Justice and the Romanian Constitutional Court issued in 2018 give cautious hope that the social and legal discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) could decrease in the medium term. The article analyzes the discussion on the prohibition of same-sex marriage in the Romanian constitution since 2015 against a threefold background: The social attitudes towards sexual minorities; the political conflicts between the parliament, the cabinet and the President of Romania; and the influence of European law.

• Details
• Contents