A new draft on legal same-sex partnerships stirred harsh controversies among senators of the legal committee that debated the bill on Tuesday. The draft law stipulates that, regardless of the sex, persons who live together should be allowed to make a civil partnership at the notary office.
On the opposite side, the senators of the legal committee representing all parties rejected the draft, arguing that Romanians are not ready to recognize this kind of relationships. They argue that the Civil Code clearly stipulates that neither same-sex civil partnerships nor gay marriage are legal in Romania, even if foreign citizens are concerned. And the lawmakers decided that things should stay this way.
“I want my partner to be legally protected, that our joint goods to be legally protected and I want our family to be recognized by the Romanian state like any other family,” Florin Buhuceanu, head of Accept gay association told the senators, in supporting the draft.
“Generally speaking, Romanians do not accept these partnerships, through their religion and conservatorism,” Liberal senator Cristian Bodea replied.
In retort, the draft law’s initiator, deputy Remus Cernea accused the senators of homophobia. “Homophobic prejudices and religious conservatorism are the only forbiddances. Otherwise, the law should be unanimously voted,” Cernea said, as quoted by Digi24.
The draft law will be debated in the Senate’s plenum, having a rejecting proposal, but the it will be voted in the Chamber of Deputies as well, as it is the decisional body.