Romania conservatives wanted voters to limit definition of ‘family,’ but they failed

A referendum in Romania on whether to narrow the constitutional definition of a family to a man and a woman failed spectacularly over the weekend, with just 20.4 percent of the voting population taking part.

>> Kit GilletThe New York Times
Published : 8 Oct 2018, 04:27 AM
Updated : 8 Oct 2018, 05:08 AM

Romania is one of six European Union countries that does not allow same-sex marriage or civil unions. But its constitution uses gender-neutral language to define “family,” and conservative groups, fearing that could lead to legal recognition for same-sex relationships, sought the referendum.

With opposition groups boycotting the vote, the new constitutional language was expected to win the support of a majority voters. But turnout was so low that the referendum results appeared invalid, leaving the existing definition of family in place.

The turnout was far below 30 percent, the threshold for a referendum to be binding, despite a decision by the government, which had largely backed the referendum, to allow two days of voting rather than one. Final results are expected to be released Monday.

The vote has dominated public discussion in Romania in recent weeks, shifting conversation away from corruption and proposed changes to the justice system that critics say could weaken the rule of law.

Opponents of the referendum said that just holding it set back human rights in Romania.

Days before the vote, 47 members of the European Parliament sent a letter to Romania’s prime minister voicing their opposition, saying it affected not only LGBT families but also “single-parent families, non-married partners with children” and “grandparents raising their grandchildren.”

Amnesty International spoke out against the referendum, saying that limiting the definition of family could increase discrimination. Romania, where homosexuality was legalised in 2001, ranks 25th out of 28 EU members on issues like equality, non-discrimination and legal recognition for LGBT people, according to ILGA-Europe, a Brussels-based advocacy group for gay and transgender rights.

“From what we are hearing, there has been an increase in hate speeches and other forms of attack” since 2016, said Barbora Cernusakova, Amnesty International’s researcher on Romania.

A girl draped in a rainbow flag wipes her tears after taking part in a protest against proposed changes to the constitution that would prevent future recognition of same-sex marriages, in Bucharest, Romania, Sep 30, 2018. REUTERS

The campaign to alter the constitution began in earnest that year, when a group called the Coalition for Family submitted a petition with 3 million signatures to push for the change. Last month, Romanian senators voted overwhelmingly for a referendum, and the country’s Constitutional Court gave its green light shortly after.

Political analysts suggest the referendum was held partly to distract Romanians from the struggles of the government, which last week was criticised by European lawmakers for pushing forward with policies that they said would weaken the rule of law.

The government “needed a smoke screen so that people would forget for a little bit about the justice system,” said Claudiu Tufis, an associate professor of political science at the University of Bucharest.

While officials were successful in deflecting attention, Tufis said, the effort may backfire on the governing Social Democratic Party. “People will interpret it as a failure of the Social Democrats to bring people to vote,” he said.

The Romanian Orthodox Church also campaigned heavily. In a statement read out in churches across the country a week before the vote, Patriarch Daniel described the referendum as “an act of professing faith in God’s love for the family” and “an exam of spiritual maturity to choose between permanent values and ephemeral ideologies.”

The president of the Coalition for Family, Mihai Gheorghiu, said the vote was needed to defend freedom of speech and religion and protect children from what he described as “gender ideology” that led to “confusion and early sexualisation.”

In a statement Sunday as the low turnout became clear, the coalition blamed the boycott and a campaign it said was “aimed directly and primarily against Christians in Romania.”

Whatever the final result of the referendum, the divisive rhetoric from the campaign may have a lasting effect.

Sitting at a cafe in Bucharest a few days before the vote, Paul Muresan, a 30-year-old animator, explained the effect on those, like himself, in the LGBT community.

“What frightens me so much is that every day in my post box I find fliers saying things like gay people are targeting orphaned children,” he said. “The referendum is waking up something that I think we are going to be very ashamed of in a few years.” Four gay friends, he said, intend to leave the country.

Vlad Viski of LGBT rights group Mozaiq delivers a speech during a protest against the referendum regarding proposed changes to the constitution that would prevent future recognition of same-sex marriages, in Bucharest, Romania, Sep 30, 2018. Reuters

The referendum results would have had little practical effect on the status of same-sex relationships. In mid-September, Romania’s Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples should have equal rights to a family life.

This followed a decision by the European Court of Justice that same-sex partners of EU citizens, legally married in other European Union countries, had the same rights of residency as heterosexual couples regardless of any individual country’s stance.

“Even before the Constitutional Court decision, there was no legal reason to have this referendum,” said Romanita Iordache, a legal expert and vice president of the advocacy group Accept.

“This isn’t a referendum about legal changes, it is about a vision for Romania,” she said. “Now we know that the Romanian population isn’t buying this illiberal hatred, and that as a country we remain European in our mind-set.”

© 2018 New York Times News Service