[ad_1]
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – The Romanians began Saturday to decide on the advisability of amending the constitution to ban same-sex marriage in a two-day referendum that, according to human rights defenders. 39, has sparked a hate speech against LGBT people.
PHOTO OF FILE: A woman passes in front of a graffiti which reads as follows: "October 6-7, vote, vote" vote near a symbol representing a cross in Bucharest, Romania, on October 1, 2018. Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea via REUTERS
The conservative state is already one of the only members of the EU to ban marriage or civil partnerships for same-sex couples.
But proponents of the proposal, including the Orthodox Church and all but one of the parliamentary parties, say they want to go further and change the constitutional definition of marriage from a "spouses" union to an all-male union. of women to stop homosexuals. couples having obtained the right to marry in the future.
Dozens of human rights groups, who are encouraging people to boycott the polls, warned that this approval would encourage further attempts to eradicate the rights of minority groups and push Romania to a new path. authoritarian and populist.
According to a survey released Friday by the CURS, the participation rate was 34% – above the required threshold of 30% – of which 90% were in favor of change.
A group called the Coalition for the Family has collected 3 million signatures to enable change. The Lower House of Parliament voted in favor last year and the Senate followed in September, making the referendum the last necessary step.
Some posters in the coalition campaign have urged people to vote "yes" to defend family values or to risk homosexual couples stealing or adopting their children. A separate announcement said that a "no" vote would allow a man to marry a tree.
"Many fear that what has happened in other countries, such as the legalization of marriage between a man and an animal, can happen here," said the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) , in power, to the TV channel Romania TV.
Loose orders
A few days before the vote, the government eased anti-fraud surveillance and limited options for contesting the outcome, while the country's broadcasting regulator removed a deadline for campaigning.
"There is no effective and enforceable mechanism for verifying fraud in this referendum," said the Independent Expert Forum (EFOR), adding that the conditions had created a "climate of mistrust in the fairness of the process" .
Some opposition politicians and activists have accused the PSD of using the vote as a smokescreen to divert attention from its leader's legal problems and clashes with the European Commission over the rule of law.
Dragnea's appeal against a conviction for abuse of power begins on October 8, one day after the vote.
"The plan is clear: to create an anti-European sentiment in Romania that Liviu Dragnea can use when European officials ask him not to destroy the judiciary, the rule of law and the fight against corruption," he said. former Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos.
The government rejected the accusations and the Orthodox Church declared that a "yes" vote would be Christian, democratic and patriotic.
Romania decriminalized homosexuality in 2001, decades after neighboring countries and LGBT discrimination is widespread.
Edited by Toby Chopra and Andrew Heavens
