Romanian Parliament Blocks Civil Union Bill

A bill that would have extended civil unions to same-sex and opposite-sex couples in Romania was blocked last week by the Juridicial Commission of the country’s lower house Chamber of Deputies, Stiri pentru viata reports.

One of the more vocal opponents of the legislation, MP Diana Tusha, delivered an intervention last month in front of her fellow lawmakers in which she expressed her views that the bill was antithetical to Romanian values and tradition.  

Said Tusha:

 

Despite appearances, civil partnership is not about simple fiscal or housing benefits for unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples, but about the very definition of family and therefore about its future.

For the first time in Romania’s history, somebody tries to shift the focus of this institution from monogamous heterosexual marriage to a simple – I quote: ‘non-discriminatory’; end of quotation – civil contract between two persons regardless of their sex. […]

We have the terrible example of countries like France, Spain and England, where this attack went so far that the government, after legislating for marriage, adoptive filiation and assisted reproduction for same-sex couples, also replaced the words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ in the civil status registries with the allegedly more neutral terms of ‘parent A’ or ‘parent B’.

It’s hard to imagine a graver aggression towards nature and ultimately also against citizens.

And since we’ve mentioned the citizens, we are here to represent the majority of Romanians, who believe that family based on marriage between [persons of opposite] sexes is the first and foremost centre of social life.

Tusha went on to use the right-wing Arizona brand of logic by saying that while she as a Christian is opposed to discrimination, it doesn't really count as discrimination when you're limiting the rights of gays.