Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Romania may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Romania, like a number of other Eastern European countries, remains socially conservative with regard to the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens. Despite this, the country has made significant progress in LGBT rights legislation since 2000. In the past decade, it has fully decriminalised homosexuality, introduced and enforced wide-ranging anti-discrimination laws, equalised the age of consent and introduced laws against homophobic hate crimes. Furthermore, LGBT communities have become more visible in recent years, as a result of events such as Bucharest's annual GayFest pride parade and Cluj-Napoca's Gay Film Nights festival. In 2006, Romania was named by Human Rights Watch as one of five countries in the world that had made "exemplary progress in combating rights abuses based on sexual orientation or gender identity."
Laws against homosexuality
The Romanian Penal Code of 1864 criminalised all homosexual acts. This code remained in effect for almost three-quarters of a century, and while it was intermittently enforced, it remained essentially in its original form. Then in 1936, a new code limited reference to homosexuality except in cases of rape. A short time later, Article 431 was introduced, stating that homosexuality could be illegal if it caused "public scandal", but not otherwise. A repeal of that language then appeared in the Penal Code of 1948. In 1968, the basic code was again revised, introducing Article 200 and moving the infraction from the public domain into the private.
There are currently no laws against gay citizens in Romania, aside from those that deny equality in marriage. Consensual acts between same-sex adults in private were legalised in 1996, although the last anti-gay law– Article 200 of the Penal Code, which criminalised public manifestations of homosexuality– was repealed only on 28 June 2000 due to pressure from the European Council and shortly before the arrival of openly gay U.S. Ambassador to Romania Michael Guest.
Since 2002, the age of consent is equal for both heterosexual and homosexual sex, at 15 years of age.
In late 2007, the far-right Greater Romania Party proposed a law in the Senate that would ban the "propagation of ideas and manifestations by homosexuals and lesbians", designed primarily to prevent Bucharest's annual GayFest pride parade from taking place. The proposal was rejected by the Senate on 11 February 2008, with 17 votes for, 16 abstentions and 27 votes against.
Gender identity/expression
Since 1996, it is possible for someone who has gone through sex reassignment surgery to legally change their sex in their official documents.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
There is currently no recognition of same-sex couples in Romania. Since 2007, however, when Romania joined the EU, the country is obliged to "facilitate" and recognise same-sex relationships registered in other EU member states (be they in the form of same-sex marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships).
Adoption and family planning
It is legal for single women, including lesbians, to access means of assisted insemination, such as IVF. In 2005, the Constitutional Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to deny medically-assisted reproduction, such as IVF, to individuals or those who are unmarried.
Military service
Gays are allowed to serve openly in the Romanian army. According to the Ministry of Defence's recruitment policy, "it is the right of every Romanian citizen to take part in the military structures of our country, regardless of their sexual orientation." Nonetheless, many– if not most– gay and lesbian members of the military choose to remain closeted in the work place due to continued fear of discrimination.
Discrimination protections
In 2000, the Romanian Parliament enacted a law that explicitly outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in a variety of fields, including employment, the provision of and access to goods and services, housing, education, health care, audiovisual programming, the justice system, other public services and social security. The law, which is among the most comprehensive in the European Union, has been successfully tested by the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD), Romania's equality body, which has fined a number of individuals and firms for discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. An example of this was when TAROM, the national air carrier, was fined for refusing to allow same-sex partners to take advantage of its discounts for couples on Valentine's Day 2005. Aside from imposing a fine, the CNCD obliged TAROM to rectify the situation.
Hate crimes legislation
The Romanian legal system treats homophobic intent as an aggravating factor in common crimes. That is, the fact that a crime was motivated by homophobic bias may lead to a higher sentence.
Laws against anti-LGBT speech
In 2006, the Criminal Code was amended in order to criminalise incitement to hatred and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation. However, this law has not been applied yet; indeed, public marches against homosexuality by extreme right-wing activists, containing offensive anti-gay slogans, have proceeded on several occasions without being prosecuted.
2007 "Cronica Cârcotaşilor" incident
On 28 March 2007, the National Audiovisual Council gave a 10,000-lei (€3000) fine to Prima TV's primetime satire-comedy show, Cronica Cârcotaşilor, for making homophobic comments. In two episodes, the show's presenters had allegedly made fun of Mircea Solcanu, an Acasă TV presenter who had come out as gay. The president of the National Audiovisual Council, Ralu Filip, justified the fine by stating that, "I felt it was unacceptable the way in which they made fun of a sexual orientation in this way, especially since it was about a colleague." This represents the first time an audiovisual programme has been fined for homophobia in Romania, based on Article 46 of the Audiovisual Law, which prevents programmes from containing any discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. The incident sparked off a public debate regarding homophobia and representations of LGBT people in the mass media. Attila Gasparik, the vice-president of the National Audiovisual Council, stated that Cronica Cârcotaşilor, as well as other high-profile TV shows, will continue being held under "strict observation. .. because they have a very high impact, reason for which we have to be very rigorous in our monitoring".
Blood donation issues
Like the United States, the UK and several other Western countries, Romania currently bans men who have had sex with men from donating blood, due to a presumed higher risk of infection with STDs. However, in September 2007, Romania's National Council for Combating Discrimination ruled that this ban was illegal, constituting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and creating a "hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive atmosphere for homosexuals". The Council, which is Romania's equality watchdog, ordered the Ministry of Health to remove the ban on MSMs donating blood. In January 2008, in order to comply with the Council's ruling, the Ministry of Health released a new law which removes the ban on men who have had sex with men from donating blood. The law is currently in a stage of public debate.
Social attitudes
Although the last anti-gay law, Article 200, was repealed in 2001, societal attitudes towards gay and lesbian citizens are still quite discriminatory, particularly in rural areas. GayFest pride marches in Bucharest have been met with significant and sometimes violent opposition from far-right groups (particularly Noua Dreaptă), even though police protected pride marchers from harm. Furthermore, Noua Dreaptă has organised "Marches for Normality" on the same day as the GayFest pride parade, with slogans against gay rights and the recognition of same-sex relationships.
Apart from Noua Dreaptă, there are a number of parties (including the Greater Romania Party, the Conservative Party and the Democratic Liberal Party) which protested against gay festivals in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca.
In September 2006, the British Council conducted a survey in various Romanian cities which, among other things, sought to ascertain the beliefs of Romanian young people (aged between 15 and 25) regarding LGBT rights. Of those surveyed, 39.1% believed that LGBT rights should be extended, 35.9% believed that the LGBT rights situation is satisfactory in Romania, while 15.6% of people stated that LGBT people have too many rights. 9.4% were undecided. Additionally, 71.9% of the young people surveyed stated that LGBT rights should be protected, indicating relatively high levels of acceptance among this demographic..
A Eurobarometer survey on discrimination in the European Union, conducted in late 2006, revealed that attitudes towards discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation were similar with those of other EU countries. 47% of Romanians believed that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was "widespread", slightly less than the EU average of 50%. Additionally, 55% of Romanians were in favour of specific measures to provide equal opportunity in employment despite sexual orientation, notably lower than the EU average figure of 66%. 67% of Romanians would agree to anonymously reveal their sexual orientation in the census, "if that could help combat discrimination in Romania", while only 16% would be totally opposed (lower than the EU average of 28%). 58% of Romanians believe that homosexuality was still a taboo in Romania, higher than the EU average of 48%, but lower than for countries such as Italy, Greece, Ireland, Austria and Sweden.
Other opinion polls have shown Romanians to be more intolerant with regard to homosexuality, including a 2003 poll conducted by Gallup for the Institute for Public Policies. In the poll, 45% of respondents said homosexuals should not be treated the same as others in society; 37% thought homosexuality should be criminalized; and 40% thought homosexuals should not be allowed to live in Romania.
Living conditions
Open homosexuality is still uncommon outside of major urban centers, and rural gay and lesbian Romanians typically remain closeted. The largest and most visible LGBT communities exist in Bucharest and in Cluj-Napoca, which have some gay clubs and cultural events. GayFest pride marches have been held in Bucharest annually since 2005, organised by ACCEPT, the largest organisation in Romania advocating for LGBT rights. There are also several events held in Cluj-Napoca by Be An Angel, another LGBT rights organisation. These include the annual Gay Film Nights, an international LGBT film festival, the Gay Prize Gala, which recognises those who have contriuted to LGBT culture and rights, and Miss Travesty Romania, a transvestite beauty pageant.
Increased Internet access in the past few years has led to the development of a vibrant online LGBT media and blogosphere. Key online newsletters include Angelicuss and GayOne.ro. In October 2008, Be An Angel will launch Romania's first LGBT television channel, Angelicuss TV, which will only broadcast online. At the same time, most traditional LGBT media has ceased operating; there are currently no print magazines or newspapers.
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