Parliamentarians in Romania will soon be asked whether or not to support the organisation of a referendum to constitutionally define family as being based solely upon the marriage between a man and a woman.

On the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Members of the LGBTI Intergroup write to Romanian Parliamentarians, urging them  not to support the referendum (click here for a Romanian translation).

The letter states:

“As Members of the European Parliament from various political groups and different EU member states, we want to call on you to support equal treatment and non-discrimination for everyone in Romania, including same-sex couples. In particular, we want to respectfully urge you to not support the proposed referendum on the definition of the family.

While we do not wish to intervene directly in Romanian family law, we do regret that this referendum would further incite discrimination against families in their various forms which already exist in Romanian society. By allowing the referendum to take place, without providing for any alternative form of legal recognition for non-married couples, you would appear to condone the ongoing human rights violations of same-sex couples and of children living in families where the partners are not married or children living in single parent families.“