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

Contents:

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

GAY ROMANIA

A gay uple hugs durg a LGBTQ+ pri para near a b stop that has anti-LGBT graffi msage sprayed on , Buchart, Romania, March 14, 2020. Socially nservative Romania, which crimalised homosexualy 2001, still bars marriage and civil partnerships for same-sex upl. Lawmakers om two different parti - the junr lg aln ethnic Hungarian party UDMR and the opposn ultra-natnalist Alliance for Ung Romanians (AUR) - said they plan to troduce legislatn to ban so-lled gay propaganda schools when parliament renven timated 8, 000 people joed the march on Saturday, dancg and wavg rabow flags.

More than 15, 000 people have marched Romania’s pal Buchart for equal rights for genr and sexual mori as the untry’s lower chamber of the parliament is set to vote on a law later this year that bans discsn of homosexualy and genr inty public spac. 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. 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).

GAY PRI EVENTS ROMANIA

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.

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

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. 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.

GAY PRI

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.

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.