Thousands of Romanians protest against “child protection law”
People hold banners and wave Rainbow flags as they take part in the Pride Parade in Bucharest. Photo AFP, Ilona Andrei
Eastern Europe
Last week, thousands of protestors joined a Pride march in Bucharest. They demanded equal rights for members of the LGBT community. The demonstrators feel threatened by a bill to ban homosexuality and gender education from schools.
Activists are worried that their freedom of expression and the rights of LGBT people will be harmed if the bill is adopted. “It would be a grave blow”, one of the protesters said to Global Times.
Earlier this year, the Senate passed the bill. Now the Lower House has to look at it and vote on it. If the Lower House passes the draft too, educational material that discusses homosexuality and gender transition will be banned from schools.
The proposal is similar to the “Child protection law in Hungary”, which also sparked many protests. About 15,000 people joined the Pride march in Bucharest last week. The demonstrators burned Christian icons in response to a right-wing call for a counter-protest.
The counter-demonstration did take place as well. It protested same-sex partnerships, marriage and adoption and supported the “Child protection law”. Protestors carried banners that read that homosexuality is a disease, Republic World reports.
Since 2001, Romania has legalised homosexuality. However, same-sex couples are not allowed to marry or enter civil partnerships. Thus, many LGBT community members are unhappy with the national legislation. They also fear that conservative voices will restrict LGBT rights.
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