Promoting human rights for LGBTI people in Romania

ACCEPT Association is a leading LGBTI rights organisation in Romania. It undertakes strategic litigation and advocacy and provides legal and psychological counselling to the LGBTI community in the country.  It also provides training for professionals including police, judges, medics and teachers, and organises community events such as the annual Bucharest Pride and LGBTI History Month. 

Adrian Coman and his lawyer outside the Constitutional Court of Romania on 27 October 2017. ©ACCEPT

ACCEPT supported the historic case of Adrian Coman, a Romanian man and his American partner, during which the Court of Justice of the European Union recognised the two as spouses. In June 2018, the court found that Romania was obliged to respect their free movement rights, even if the country did not recognise same-sex marriage or registered partnerships.

The decision, which has implications for the whole of the European Union, is a significant development for LGBTI rights, particularly in Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia, all countries that do not currently recognise same-sex partnerships in law. Upholding this decision, the Constitutional Court of Romania ruled that discrimination against same-sex couples was not permissible and was protected under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Romanian Constitution. 

ACCEPT is currently involved in a number of regional cases seeking to combat discrimination in marriage and civil partnership.