ROMANIA: Top Court Backs Rights For Gay Couples

Radio Free Europe reports:

Romania’s top court has ruled that gay couples should have the same family rights as heterosexuals, a judgment that comes ahead of a national referendum seeking to ban same-sex marriage.

The Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples had the same rights to a private and family life as heterosexuals and should “benefit from…. legal and juridical recognition of their rights and obligations.”

The ruling on September 27 comes ahead of an October 6-7 referendum that is seeking to limit the constitutional definition of family to heterosexual, married couples.

The anti-gay referendum was scheduled after a concerted push by US-based hate groups including the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Liberty Counsel. How the result of the referendum might conflict with this week’s ruling remains to be seen.

RELATED: In June 2018, the European Union’s top court ruled that member nations must grant residency rights to LGBT couples legally married in other EU countries. In that case, an American man had married a Romanian national in Brussels. Same-sex marriage is legal in 14 of the 28 EU member nations.