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

Contents:

• EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS
• 1,000 ROMANIAN GAY PRI MARCH AMID MOV TO LIM RIGHTS
• UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
• I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK

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

In the Uned Kgdom, Sectn 28 — a 1988 law that said lol ernments uld not "promote homosexualy" — chilled lol ernment support for LGBT iativ and fueled anti-LGBT harassment until was repealed the early 2000s.

While the laws are motivated by homophobia and transphobia, they purport to rt on an unfound belief that discsns of sexual orientatn and genr inty are not age-appropriate for young children. The toxic stereotyp monise LGBT people, fuel homophobia and transphobia, and put LGBT people and their fai at risk of harassment and vlence. 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.

1,000 ROMANIAN GAY PRI MARCH AMID MOV TO LIM RIGHTS

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.

Socially nservative Romania crimalised homosexualy 2001, s later than other parts of the European Unn, but still bars marriage and civil partnerships for same-sex lg, which says the ernment has breached the European nventn on human rights, after 21 Romanian same-sex upl filed challenged wh the urt upl argued Romania's failure to regnise them as fai discrimated agast them var stanc cludg healthre cisns, jot medil surance, property and employment rights only afford to married Romanian ernment has three months to ci whether wants to ask the European urt to refer the se to s top chamber.

FILE - In this Saturday, June 9, 2018 file photo, two girls kiss holdg a rabow flag durg the gay pri para Buchart, Romania. Romania’s top urt has led that gay upl should have the same fay rights as heterosexuals, a judgment that before a referendum seekg to ban same-sex marriage.

UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s top urt has led that gay upl should have the same fay rights as heterosexuals, a judgment that before a natnal referendum seekg to ban same-sex Constutnal Court led that same-sex upl had the same rights to a private and fay life as heterosexuals and should “benef om.... Teodora Ion-Rota, of the gay rights group Accept, told The Associated Prs on Friday the lg was “extremely important. Crics say amendg the nstutn uld vlate human rights and amounts to anti-gay July, the European Court of Jtice led the se of a Romanian-Amerin same-sex uple who wanted their marriage legally regnized EU urt led that member untri “may not obstct the eedom of rince” of EU cizens by refg to grant rince for the same-sex members Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Lhuania and Latvia don’t regnize same-sex marriage or offer legal protectn to same-sex upl.

BUCHAREST, April 29 (Rters) - Romanian human rights groups on Friday nmned a bill approved by the Senate which bans so-lled gay propaganda schools, sayg would legimise discrimatn agast the LGBT muny, mirrorg measur seen Hungary and groups urged parliament's lower hoe, which has the fal say, to reject the bill that bans the e of materials seen as promotg homosexualy and genr change at schools. "Adoptg explicly homophobic and transphobic legislatn by censorg rmatn about sexual orientatn and genr inty is a shame on Romania.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

"Socially nservative Romania crimalised homosexualy 2001, s later than other parts of the European Unn, and bars marriage and civil partnerships for same sex upl.

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 .

I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK

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.

There have been hostile reactns to Gay Pri march and gay ftivals, particularly om far-right groups like Noua Dreaptă. Many gay and lbian Romanians hi their sexualy, particularly if they live outsi of Buchart and other major urban areas. 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.

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.

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.