ROMANIA: Orthodox Church Collects Three Million Signatures In Push To Ban Same-Sex Marriage

Agence France-Presse reports:

Romanian campaigners said Monday they had collected three million signatures on a petition to block same-sex unions in the EU member state.

Several groups linked to the Orthodox Church and united under the umbrella Coalition for Family are seeking a constitutional amendment to narrowly define marriage as the “union between a man and a woman”.

It is the second such move in Europe this month after a group of mostly right-wing Italian politicians said they will push for a referendum to overturn the introduction of gay civil unions in their country.

“This is a historic moment,” said Mihai Gheorghiu, one of the leaders of the Romanian initiative, which has been given strong backing by the Church.

“Three million Romanians, in an unprecedented show of solidarity, signed this proposed amendment.”

The campaigners want parliament to change the wording of the current law which says marriage is a union between “partners”, but they face strong opposition from gay rights groups.