Romanians will be asked this weekend whether they want to redefine marriage as only being between a man and a woman rather than “two spouses”, in a referendum that LGBT activists say is fuelling homophobia. The result will have little practical effect, given that same-sex marriage is not legal in Romania, and critics of the referendum, which was brought by a conservative NGO called Coalition for the Family, say it has been seized upon by politicians as a distraction tactic. “The idea is to distract public attention from corruption allegations, and they are doing it at the expense of the LGBT community,” said Teodora Ion-Rotaru of Accept, a rights organisation. She said there had been an increase in hate speech over the past two weeks, worsening an already difficult situation for the LGBT people in a very conservative country.
Graeme Reid, the director of the LGBT rights programme at Human Rights Watch, said the referendum was a waste of money and redundant. “It’s a symbolic gesture that further marginalises a minority group and intends to scapegoat them,” he said. Activists say the referendum will set the cause of LGBT rights further back.
Romania’s ruling Social Democrats are already accused by many in Brussels of increasingly authoritarian tendencies, and their leader, Liviu Dragnea, has been convicted of abuse of office and sentenced to three and a half years in jail. His appeal will be next week.
Dragnea has been active in campaigning for the referendum. “Many people fear that what happened in other countries could happen here, for example that a human and an animal could get married,” he told Romanian television this week.
Full Article: Romanians to vote in referendum LGBT groups say is fuelling hate | World news | The Guardian.