Romania Parliament Votes in Favor of Man/Woman Marriage Only

The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
September 13, 2018World News
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Romania Parliament Votes in Favor of Man/Woman Marriage Only
Diaspora rally in Victoria Square in Bucharest on Aug. 10, 2018. (Mihuț Savu/The Epoch Times Romania)

BUCHAREST, Romania—Romanian Senators approved a measure that would pave the way for the constitution to be changed to explicitly state that marriage is a union of a man and a woman on Sept. 13.

Senators voted 107-13 with seven abstentions to allow a referendum that could change the constitution, which currently states that marriage is a union between “spouses.” The vote comes after Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies last year overwhelmingly approved the same measure.

The vote comes after 3 million Romanians signed a petition demanding that the constitution be changed to redefine marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Social Democrat chairman Liviu Dragnea has indicated Romania will hold a referendum on the issue in October.

A senator for the ruling Social Democratic Party, Serban Nicolae, said the vote was on religious grounds: “we’ve been a Christian nation for 2,000 years.”

Accept, a Romanian group that fights for equality for same-sex couples, condemned the vote, accusing the Senate of “raising homophobia to state value and sacrificing constitutional protection for many families.”

Romania, along with Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Latvia, doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage or offer legal protection to same-sex couples.

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