LGBTQ rights in Romania | |
|---|---|
 Location of Romania (dark green) – in Europe (light green & dark grey) | |
| Status | Legal since 2002, age of consent equalised in 2002 |
| Gender identity | Change of legal sex allowed since 1996, following sex reassignment surgery |
| Military | Gays and lesbians allowed to serve |
| Discrimination protections | Sexual orientation protections since 2000 (see below) |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships | No recognition of same-sex relationships |
| Adoption | – |
| Part of a series on |
| LGBT rights |
|---|
 |
| Lesbian ∙ Gay ∙ Bisexual ∙ Transgender |
 LGBTQ portal |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Romania may face legal challenges and discrimination not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Attitudes in Romania are generally conservative, with regard to the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens. Nevertheless, the country has made significant changes in LGBT rights legislation since 2000. In the past two decades, it fully decriminalised homosexuality, introduced and enforced wide-ranging anti-discrimination laws, equalised the age of consent and introduced laws against homophobic hate crimes.[1][2] Furthermore, LGBT communities have become more visible in recent years, as a result of events such as Bucharest's annual pride parade, Timișoara's Pride Week 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."[3] However, in June 2020, it placed a blanket ban on the study of gender identity in education.[4] The ban was struck down in December 2020 by Romania’s Constitutional Court.[5][6] In April 2022, a bill passed in the Senate of Romania banning "gay propaganda" in schools.[6] Also in April 2022, the senate passed a bill banning the discussion of homosexuality and gender identity in public spaces.[7] It was approved by the Romanian Human Rights Commission but requires approval by the Chamber of Deputies, Romania's lower house of Parliament.[7] The bill sparked a march by over 15,000 people in Romania's capital Bucharest in July 2022, calling for equal rights for gender and sexual minorities.[7] In 2022, the advocacy group ILGA-Europe ranked Romania 26 out of 27 European Union (EU) countries for LGBT rights protection, behind all EU countries except Poland.[8]
- ^ Dan Littauer (9 November 2012). "Romania anti-gay assault on seven people". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ^ Flavia Drăgan (12 December 2012). ""Hate crimes" în România. A fost lansat primul site de monitorizare a infracțiunilor împotriva grupurilor vulnerabile". România Liberă (in Romanian).
- ^ "'Hall of Shame' Shows Reach of Homophobia". Human Rights Watch. 17 May 2006.
- ^ "Romanian rights groups condemn ban on gender identity studies". Reuters. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ "Romanian top court overturns ban on gender identity studies". Reuters. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ a b "Romania must reject Hungary-style anti-LGBT bill, rights groups say". Reuters. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ a b c Radu, Alexandra (12 July 2022). "Photos: Thousands march in Romania as law censoring LGBTQ looms". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ "Country Ranking". Rainbow Europe. May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2021.