The “family” referendum

Senate approves citizens initiative to redefine family in Constitution as marriage between a man and a woman.

Ştefan Stoica, 12.09.2018, 12:21

The Romanian Senate on Tuesday passed with a large majority a bill
to revise the Constitution in order to redefine family as the marriage
between a man and a woman rather than that between spouses, as it is defined at
the moment. The Chamber of Deputies also passed the bill last May. This
citizens’ initiative belongs to a big coalition of Christian organisations and
associations enthusiastically supported by the Orthodox Church, a coalition
that did not hide its intention to seek a change of the definition of family
in the Constitution in order to block any possibility of legalising same-sex
marriage. The initiative must now also be put through a referendum, something
that will take place in October.

The debates in Parliament have once again showed Romania as a place
of paradoxes. Invoking the country’s 2,000-year-old Christian tradition and the
idea that homosexuality is a sin, the Social Democratic Party, which presumably
belongs to an ideological family that is sensitive to the rights of the
minorities and which supports tolerance and inclusion, voted in favour of the
referendum. So did their allies, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, which,
again, in theory, should support civil rights and liberties. The great Liberal
Party in opposition also voted in favour, with the exception of a few senators,
who abstained. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, which has
no ideological platform, were also in favour. The only party to stand against
the referendum was the Save Romania Union, which has warned that this is a
futile referendum that will do nothing to improve people’s lives but which may
divide society.

A small protest against the redefinition of family in the
Constitution was held in the centre of Bucharest. The representatives of ACCEPT
Association, which protects the rights of sexual minorities, have said that through
its Tuesday vote, the Senate raises homophobia to the level of state value and
sacrifices constitutional protections for many families in Romania. They say
the vote is a violation of the right to private and family life, which is an inalienable right thatbelongs to all persons, irrespective of gender and sexual
orientation under the European Human Rights Convention. This is a serious
warning.

Recently, the screening in a Bucharest cinema of an award-winning
film about the struggle of sexual minorities in France in the 1980s was disrupted
by a group of Orthodox fundamentalists who aggressively expressed their
homophobia. The debate that will precede the referendum will show whether
Romanian society is capable to change and modernise without abandoning its
traditions, which are invoked excessively for manipulation and propaganda
purposes. This is also a test for Romanian politicians, which they are about to
fail, however. The Senate vote has clearly showed that ideological confusion,
the attempt to confiscate sensitive issues and use them for populist and
election purposes and collision with stated values and principles have become
the norm.