Romanian Government Passes Bill Decriminalizing Gay Sex
The Advocate,
June 23–25, 2001
The Romanian government has passed an emergency bill decriminalizing gay
sex as part of its efforts to increase the country’s chances to be accepted
into the European Union. "I hope this will put an end to discrimination
against homosexuals so that human and minority rights are protected and
criteria for the EU [membership] are met,’’ said Adrian Coman, who heads
Accept, a gay rights group. Romania is under pressure to have its legislation
meet European norms. Late Thursday the government bypassed parliament and
passed an emergency ordinance to decriminalize gay sex. The EU’s special
envoy to Romania had recently urged the move. In May the government reached a
compromise with Romania’s Orthodox Church on the issue. The church
vehemently opposes legalizing homosexuality but stayed silent on the issue
because of Romania’s desire to be in the EU. Details of the compromise were
not disclosed.
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