Eastern Europe was once a world lear on gay rights. Then ran out of spegoats | CNN

Contents:

• GAY ROMANIA
• EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS
• GAY LIFE ROMANIA
• GAY BUCHART

GAY ROMANIA

The 20th anniversary of the abolishment of Article 200, which thorized prison sentenc of up to five years for same-sex relatns, was one e for celebratn durg the gay pri para and ftival held Romania’s pal this month. BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The last person jailed for beg gay Romania walked ee untry crimalized homosexualy three years after that, 2001, while reformg s laws to qualify for membership the European 20th anniversary of the abolishment of Article 200, which thorized prison sentenc of up to five years for same-sex relatns, was one e for celebratn durg the gay pri para and ftival held Romania’s pal this month. Some Romanians, fluenced by the Orthodox church, reject the growg social acceptance of lbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgenr people, pecially among young people.

A new law that took effect Hungary this summer banned the pictn of homosexualy films, books and other ntent tend for dienc unr 18. Dozens of muni Poland have passed largely symbolic anti-LGBT rolutns amid a nservative backlash that began more than two years Romania, lawmakers om two parti, cludg a junr partner the untry’s erng aln, plan to troduce legislatn next month that would ban so-lled “gay propaganda” schools. While there is growg support for LGBT rights among young Romanians, too many Romanians do not know anyone who openly intifi as gay, Ion-Rota said.

Romania is a socially nservative untry, and that is reflected s attus towards gay and transgenr muni. However, the untry’s gay scene is gradually growg and fely a place that should be on everyone’s mt-see list. The good news is, homosexualy is legal Romania, and there is a range of anti-discrimatn laws place.

EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS

In fact, the past three s have seen huge progrs for LGBT rights Romania: homosexualy was wholly crimalized (1996), the age of nsent was equalized (2002), anti-discrimatn laws the workplace and regardg the provisn of servic were troduced (2000). In fact, the only law agast gay cizens Romania is that prohibg same-sex marriage; this is unlikely to change any time soon given that public opn, unr the fluence of the church, is still very much agast . Currently, relig and nservative anizatns are mobilizg to hold a referendum on amendg the nstutn so that will enshre marriage as ‘between a man and a woman’; this would make legalizg gay marriage much more difficult and is seen by many as a step backwards.

Dpe the legal support place for the LGBT muny, the social suatn for gay people Romania is still very challengg. Unsurprisgly, given the circumstanc, many thk of the gay muny as ‘sick’ or ‘immoral. There have been hostile reactns to Gay Pri march and gay ftivals, particularly om far-right groups like Noua Dreaptă.

In 2013 an EU survey listed Romania third among untri wh the hight levels of homophobia the EU. Many gay and lbian Romanians hi their sexualy, particularly if they live outsi of Buchart and other major urban areas.

GAY LIFE ROMANIA

Thanks to the efforts of advocy anizatns like ACCEPT Romania, attus are slowly changg, and the gay muny is beg more open and active across the untry, although there is still a sizable gap between cy and untry.

So What Do This Mean For Gay Travelers? While overall public attus towards the LGBT muny are still que negative, gay travelers should not allow this to put them off gog to this betiful untry; however, people should be aware of the potential hostily they uld enunter. In an tertg way, is almost more important to be wary Romania than a untry where homosexualy is pletely prohibed; while is legal Romania, the untry is an -between zone where the populatn is more aware of the LGBT muny, and therefore hostile attus are also more out the open.

Buchart is fely the most tolerant and open cy Romania; here is where the bulk of Romania’s gay scene is to be found, om vibrant nightclubs to f equented by the LGBT muny. Outsi of Buchart, there are two gay bars Romania – one Sibiu and one Cluj-Napo.

GAY BUCHART

Dpe havg a lot of stunts, which ually mak a cy more liberal, Timisoara do not have much of a gay scene. Sibiu and Cluj-Napo, stunng Transylvanian towns, are both great plac to vis (not jt for their one gay club each! As has been mentned, the more ral areas are likely to be nsirably more nservative and so gay travelers to the untrysi villag should be aware of that.

It would be difficult to fd a hotel or hostel that has issu wh gay travelers Romania; for one thg, often more open-md people tend to work tourism and hospaly. When LGBT travelers are lookg for more specifilly gay-iendly hostels or hotels, ’s a good ia to check on the ter. As is clear om the above rmatn, visors to Romania are not gog to fd much the way of out-and-proud gay parti; even Buchart, the gay scene is fairly limed and always changg.