Comments on: Third of Romanians think gays should be punished

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:18:36 +0000

In answer to Mihia, my frustration lies with this outdated Eastern European society's attitude especially in Poland, the Baltic States (and of course dare I say the Russians!) I understand that the Govt has adopted the Rules of the Club from what you say and its a case of your society being back in the 80s and 90s when, yes agreed it was difficult growing up Gay in the UK (especially with Mrs Thatchers Govt!) So I DO sympathise; we have been there and a lot of us have worked towards equality. Its been difficult here, we did not have EU Human Rights Support here for many years but with the support of the EU itself, Romanian attitudes can be/will change for the LGBT community. Best of luck!

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By: Mihai Bucur

Mihai Bucur — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:05:19 +0000

Re Mike: "If they don't like the rules, they should get out of the club!"

As I've mentioned before, Romania *is* respecting EU gay rights norms. Indeed, Romania's anti-discrimination laws go far beyond the compulsory EU Directive. Authorities have consistently upheld the right to free assembly for pride parades. Thus, the situation is not analogous to Latvia or Poland, where authorities themselves have behaved homophobically.

I understand the frustration that many have about LGBT taxpayer money being invested in a "homophobic country", but please remember there are many Romanians who are accepting of gays, and indeed many Romanians who are part of the LGBT community.

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By: Mihai Bucur

Mihai Bucur — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:59:01 +0000

In response to Leonard: the situation of LGBT people in Romania is approximately how it was in the UK at the beginning of the gay rights movement – say, 1970s. Gays do have meeting places and clubs, and many of them lead stable and safe lives, but they tend to keep their sexual identity hidden in public. More people are coming out, including a few celebrities, but the gay community is much less visible than in the UK.

The key to understanding Romanian social attitudes is to look at how homosexuality was perceived in the 1980s and 1990s, when homosexuality was almost always mentioned as a "perversion" and a "mental diseases" alongside zoophilia and pedophilia, and it was still a criminal offence actively prosecuted by police. Many people's views are still mired down in this ignorant perception. For example, the standard response of many Romanians when you talk to them about gay pride prides is "ok, but then the necrophiles and the zoophiles should also have the right to parade".

The interesting thing is that the attitude of authorities changed almost overnight. One day, they were prosecuting gays, the other day police are protecting gay marches and courts are enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Whether this will 'trickle down' to societ at large is still to be seen…

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By: Leonard

Leonard — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:50:29 +0000

I don't know how I feel about this. Part of me isn't surprised since at any given moment maybe 1/3 of the world hates gay people and would-well, had-use violence on us if we live in those areas. Another part of me feels sad for the homosexuals who actually live in Romania knowing what most of their fellow Romanians thinks of them. Mihai mentioned that the homophobia lies more with the society rather than government, so I wonder: what IS it like over there, for homosexuals?

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By: Del

Del — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:41:10 +0000

Maybe we should segregate all Romanians to keep society safe from their anti-social behaviour! Maybe they wouls see how completely ridiculous their views are!

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By: Mihai Bucur

Mihai Bucur — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:41:11 +0000

Hi. Just to let you know that the problem in Romania is not lack of laws, but rather social attitudes.

Romania has among Europe's most progressive gay rights laws – like in the UK, anti-discrimination laws cover goods and services and education and all that. Also, there are laws against hate crimes and hate speech. So, the EU couldn't really do anything else. Plus, the government in Romania is not homophobic – it supports and funds gay pride parades (indeed, this poll was commissioned by the CNCD, a public authority).

The sad part is that social homophobia is MUCH MUCH harder to remove than governmental homophobia…

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By: zazou

zazou — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:14:35 +0000

EU norms……..after getting all that money they will take their bible and their cross – and tell us all to f.ck off !!
There should be quick actions BEFORE joining europe – all EUROPEEN LAWS should be up to scratch.
The "richer" europe is so bloody passif !!

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By: apYrs

apYrs — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:06:02 +0000

and just how much money are us queers pouring into this benighted country to bring it up to EU norms?