Romania Hosts Largest-Ever LGBT Pride Parade In Bucharest

Known previously as GayFest, nearly 27,000 people took part in Bucharest Pride 2024 on June 30, which celebrated the diversity, visibility, and dignity of the LGBT community.

The theme for this year's event, the 19th held, was We Are Ready.

The LGBT rights group ACCEPT hailed this year's event as its largest ever in terms of participants. Events were also held in the cities of Cluj, Lasi, Oradea, and Timisoara.

Though the event was peaceful, a few protesters were forcibly removed from the route, while a counterdemonstration calling itself The March Of Normality was held earlier.

 

An EU member since 2007, Romania remains one of the most restrictive countries regarding LGBT relationships in the European Union. 

Not only does Romania bar same-sex marriages and same-sex civil partnerships, it also does not recognize same-sex partnerships registered in other countries.

The influential Orthodox Church, to which more than 85 percent of Romanians belong according to census data, has repeatedly spoken out against civil partnerships. 

The constitution of Romania defines the family as a freely consented marriage between spouses, without specifying gender. 
 

A person with a colorful outfit takes part in the parade.

In April 2022, the country's Senate passed several bills banning gay "propaganda" in schools and the discussion of homosexuality and gender identity in public spaces. Several months later, over 15,000 people took to the streets of the nation's capital, calling for equal rights for gender and sexual minorities.

Romania rejected a 2023 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that said the country was violating the rights of same-sex couples by refusing to legally recognize their unions.

A protest banner with the slogan "Illness Is Not A Reason For Pride!" hangs from a residential area along the route.

A survey commissioned by ACCEPT in 2021 showed that only 43 percent of Romanians were in favor of legal recognition of civil marriage for same-sex couples.

Participants march in front of the Palace of Parliament.

However, 68 percent of those polled by ACCEPT thought all families, including same-sex families, should have legal protections.

Employees from the nearly 25 embassies, including the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, as well as representatives of the European Commission in Romania, took part in the march.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said in November 2023 that Romania was "not ready" to grant more rights to same-sex couples, despite the European court ruling against the country. Ciolacu added it wouldn't be the first or the last time that Romania fails to enforce ECHR rulings.

Romania holds local, European, general, and presidential elections in 2024.