One week until the family referendum vote

It is the last week of campaign ahead of the referendum for the modification of the Constitution article defining marriage

Ştefan Stoica, 01.10.2018, 13:47

Romanian voters go to the ballots on October 6th and 7th in a referendum to redefine family in the Constitution. They are expected to say whether they agree or not to the revision of a law stating that the family is based on the marriage between a man and a woman, rather than between spouses, as it is at present. A draft law on this matter has been voted upon by a wide majority in Parliament. Except for the Save Romania Union, all parliamentary parties support traditional family. The upcoming referendum is the result of a citizen initiative promoted by a coalition of Christian organisations named “The Coalition for Family”.

This coalition, that advocates the traditional family, gathered 3 million signatures. The campaign for the referendum has polarised society, just as anticipated by the political and civic opponents to the revision. They have also argued that the vote on redefining family has no legal consequences, as the current Civil Code only allows heterosexual marriages. The Constitutional Court has green lighted the draft law. On the other hand, the Court has found, when giving a positive answer to the notification of a Romanian-American gay couple on same-sex marriage not being recognised, that Romania does not offer legal protection to gay couples either.

There are currently five EU member states banning same-sex marriage, namely Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. The Court has ruled, taking into account similar decisions of the highest European courts, that a same-sex relationship is a matter of “private life” and “family life”, which gives partners the right to express their personality within that respective relationship, and to benefit legal recognition of their rights and obligations.

Supporters of the redefinition of family, including the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is the church of the majority in Romania, have given as a main argument the Christian tradition, which they believe is being threatened. Thus, high-ranking Orthodox officials have urged the faithful to say yes in the referendum. In response, associations defending human rights and sexual minority rights advise people to boycott the referendum so that it would not be validated. This would only be possible if the voter turnout rate were below 30%.

The MozaiQ association, supporting the rights of the LGBT community, has staged a protest against a referendum which they see as hindering the rights of a minority, arguing that if two people love each other they should be allowed to get married even if they form a same-sex couple. Both sides have radical views and the chance for any dialogue between them is almost zero.