BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – Romanian senators have voted to place the constitutional marriage amendment on the ballot, paving the way for the constitution to explicitly state that marriage is a union of a man and a woman. A nationwide referendum will take place on October 7.

Senators voted 107-13 with seven abstentions to allow a referendum that could change the constitution, which currently states that marriage is a union between “spouses” to affirm marriage is the union of a man and a woman. The vote comes after Parliament's Chamber of Deputies last year overwhelmingly approved the same measure.

More than three million Romanian citizens signed a petition last year asking for a nationwide referendum to define marriage as a one-man and one-woman union in the nation's constitution. This is particularly impressive in a nation of less than 20 million people. The petition was unanimously approved by Romania's Constitutional Court.

Liberty Counsel’s client, Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis, and Harry Mihet, Liberty Counsel’s Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel, visited Romania last year to discuss the impact of same-sex “marriage” on religious liberty and freedom of conscience.

Ms. Davis was jailed for six days because her conscience prohibited her from authorizing a marriage that is contrary to natural marriage between a man and a woman. Mr. Mihet is a native of Romania. He grew up under Romania's oppressive communist regime and witnessed its violent demise in the Christmas Revolution of 1989, which started in his hometown of Timisoara. During their nine-day visit last year, Davis and Mihet held conferences in Romania's largest cities, including Bucharest, Cluj, Sibiu, Timisoara and Iasi. They met with two archbishops of the Orthodox Church and other leaders of Romania's largest denomination. Davis and Mihet’s message was simple: same-sex “marriage” and freedom of conscience are mutually exclusive, because those who promote the former have zero tolerance for the latter.

“I am pleased that my native country will finally have the chance to decide for itself the meaning of marriage,” said Mihet. “This referendum is long overdue. Romanians love freedom and understand the dangers of same-sex ‘marriage’ on the rights of those who do not wish to support or participate in it. I am confident that the referendum will succeed.”

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