28/6/2000
ROMANIA
DE-CRIMINALIZES HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS IN PRIVATE.
The Chamber of Deputies on 28 June
approved an amendment to
the Penal Code whereby homosexual relations will be an
offense only if "conducted in public." Such relations are
still described as "perverted sexual acts" and as
"unnatural," however. The public display of homosexual
behavior carries a sentence of five years in prison,
compared with the two-year sentence for offensive
heterosexual acts in public, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau
reported. The amendment was opposed by the Greater Romania
Party, which said it offends the "Orthodox spirit" of the
nation and its traditions. The Romanian Orthodox Church has
protested the amendment on similar grounds. Spokesmen for
the ruling coalition said the amendment was a "compromise"
intended to fend off renewed monitoring by the Council of
Europe. The Senate has still to debate the amendment. MS
