Romanian LGBTQ+ community wants equal rights, not special conditions

Same-sex couples married in other EU member states will not be recognised as spouses in Romania and will only be granted residence rights, a draft law approved by the government reads.

The draft law says that the marriage certificates between persons of the same sex concluded in an EU member state will be recognised in Romania without transcription in the country’s civil status registers.

Should this bill be ratified by parliament in this form, the Accept Association warns that “European citizens who have married in another member state will not be recognised as spouses in Romania, but will merely be granted the right of residence”.

The association added that this approach results in unequal treatment of LGBTQ+ people, “offering them special conditions, not equal rights”. Moreover, same-sex couples in a civil partnership legally recognised in another EU state will continue to be treated in Romania as separate foreigners with no family ties.

In 2018, in the Coman-Hamilton case, the European Court of Justice condemned Romania, compelling the country to provide equal protection to same-sex spouses. Subsequently, in the same year, the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) ruled that same-sex couples should be afforded a legal form of protection.

Iustina Ionescu, a human rights lawyer, says that the draft law represents “a violation of the ECJ’s decision and of the spirit and letter of the CCR’s decision”.

In May 2023, the European Court of Human Rights also ruled that Romania had a duty to provide adequate recognition and protection for same-sex relationships as it found Romania violated the right to family life of 21 same-sex couples.

Bucharest appealed to the Strasbourg court’s decision.

(Cătălina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)