Romania is generally socially conservative eastern European country, where the Orthodox Church holds considerable sway. When it comes to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens, there has been a significant progress in LGBT rights legislation since 2000. LGBT communities and organization have become more visible in recent years, as a result of events such as a pride parade in Bucharest and a gay film nights festival.

There is an excellent example of trouble that can occur because Romanian law doesn’t approve same sex marriage. Klaus Werner Iohannis, Romania's current president, called for "tolerance and acceptance" of minorities, as the nation's highest court considers whether to legally recognize a same-sex marriage between a U.S. citizen and a Romanian man. Claibourn Robert Hamilton, an American graphic designer, and Adrian Coman, a rights activist, have petitioned the court to recognize their marriage. They married in Belgium in 2010, where same-sex marriages are legal, and live in the United States. They launched a legal fight to get their marriage sanctioned in Romania in 2012 after their plans to relocate for work were shelved due to a refusal by immigration authorities to recognize their union. The court has twice delayed making a decision in their case.

This year there was a proposal signed by three million Romanians to change the constitution’s definition as a union strictly between a man and a woman and the nine judges on the Constitutional Court ruled unanimously that the proposal was valid. To change the constitution in Romania, there is a procedure which consists of: a proposal by the president, the government, a quarter of the members of parliament or at least 500,000 citizens; approving the revision and at the end passing a nationwide referendum. Currently, the constitution says family starts "on the basis of freely consenting marriage between spouses". The Coalition for the Family started the initiative for replacing “spouses” in the definition with “a man and a woman”. It said only men and women can naturally start a family and raise children.

Many local LGBT rights groups fear that this move will be a huge step back in the process of legalizing same sex marriage. Chief Justice Valer Dorneanu said the court did not rule on the substance of the proposal but on whether it met legal requirements and it is not in the Constitutional Court’s attribution to decide whether it will admit these marriages, nor to redefine the notion of family. Twenty-eight human rights groups had previously urged the court to reject the proposal because the initiative creates a hostile, degrading and derogatory environment for the LGBT community in Romania. Another local LGBT rights group, ACCEPT, urged parliament to ensure the distinction between family and marriage in the referendum question. They said that family is an institution based on love and respect that also includes homosexual couples, single-parent families or unmarried heterosexual couples. The referendum could occur at the same time as a parliamentary election later this year.

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