A citizens’ initiative signed by millions seeks to redefine the concept of “family” in Romania.
A few million Romanians have already signed a citizens' initiative to revise the definition of the family in the Constitution as being based on the free-consensual marriage between a man and a woman instead of "between spouses", the definition in use at present. The initiative is spearheaded by the Coalition for Family. According to the chairman of the Committee for Constitutional Initiative, Mihai Gheorghiu, this is a premiere at national and European level, enjoying the support of both the Orthodox community and the Catholic and Protestant religious denominations. "This is the first time in the history of modern Romania that three million people have called for a revision of the Constitution. This effort cannot be overlooked and the project will be discussed, although everyone keeps silent about it, which cannot be a good sign", Mihai Gheorghiu said when the initiative was tabled to the Senate.
Meanwhile, things have progressed a great deal, and the citizens' initiative was this week passed by the Chamber of Deputies. Dan Barna, an MP with the Save Romania Union in opposition, the party that gave the most votes against the initiative, explained that while he respects citizens' right of initiative, holding a referendum on this matter, as required by the law, would polarise society. Dan Barna:
"Is the traditional family an important value in our society? Without a doubt, yes. Is tolerance and respect for minority groups an important value in our society? Without a doubt, yes. Let's be honest about it, this referendum compels Romanian citizens to prioritise the two values. This referendum will deepen the fracture existing in our society."
The initiative is not targeting anyone in particular and is not an act of intolerance, Senator Varujan Vosganian with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats has said:
"I never thought that the idea of maternity intertwined with the idea of paternity could be interpreted as an act of intolerance. In fact, this is what the human condition is built upon. Not to mention the tradition of our nation. Highlighting the fact that a child should call one parent mother and the other father is not an attack against someone, as everyone is free, under the Constitution, to live according to his or her own desires, abilities and preferences!"
Part of civil society has contested the initiative. One of the arguments against it is the fact that the definition it proposes is already included in the Civil Code, or that this undertaking might lead to difficult situations. For instance in the case of a man who has undergone sex reassignment surgery and who returns to Romania in order to make his relationship with a man official. The intervention of the Romanian Orthodox Church in this matter is seen as an attempt to restore Romanians' trust in this institution. When priests across the country started gathering signatures in favour of the project, Patriarch Daniel explained that "the traditional family finds itself in a fragile and difficult spot, because it is considered by many as "obsolete and old-fashioned", and because "we live in a world dominated by individualism and secularism that doesn't strive for a life of prayer or raising children in the Christian faith". Therefore, the Patriarch argues, "we must support the effort of defending the natural, traditional and universal family and resisting the new family models, which deem the union between man and woman as just one other possible model."
Teodora Rosetti, a programme coordinator with ACCEPT Association spoke to Radio Romania about the view of her organisation, which has been advocating the rights of LGBT persons in Romania for the last 20 years:
"ACCEPT sees this initiative as redundant, one that is aimed at stigmatising LGBT persons, as well as diverting public attention from the very serious problems the Romanian society and families are confronted with. The moment the entire debate is focused on this community, the community of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in Romania, while these persons are presented as a threat, a completely fictitious threat in our opinion, to the traditional family and its well-being, we basically channel the latent hatred in society, the hatred of people who are dissatisfied with other day-to-day matters, against this minority group, which in Romania is almost invisible, which has very few recognised rights, and which is facing major problems when it comes to being guaranteed the protection of the law, thus taking the debate away from the actual problems faced by family in Romania."
Without denying the existence of the problems raised by Theodora Rosetti, the representative of the Coalition for Family Catalin Vasile says the move initiated in Parliament to redefine the concept of family was necessary for things to be clearly stipulated in the Constitution. He says that for marriage to remain a good environment for raising children and for the latter's development and education it should be defined as the union between a man and a woman. If the proposal is also endorsed by the Senate, Romanians will vote on the matter in a referendum that has to be called within 30 days of the adoption of the bill.
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