This picturesque West Cork home with separate basement apartment is on the market for €695,000
This picturesque West Cork home with separate basement apartment is on the market for €695,000

Sarah Finnan

‘The Easter holidays are a fresh kind of hell when you have kids and a job’
‘The Easter holidays are a fresh kind of hell when you have kids and a...

Dominique McMullan

Annutri co-founder and award-winning businesswoman Anita Donoghue on the power of a positive mindset
Annutri co-founder and award-winning businesswoman Anita Donoghue on the power of a positive mindset

IMAGE

This Clontarf home was reconfigured to streamline the layout and maximise its views
This Clontarf home was reconfigured to streamline the layout and maximise its views

Megan Burns

6 classic movies worth watching over Easter
6 classic movies worth watching over Easter

Jennifer McShane

The friend zone: How to navigate finding friends as an adult
The friend zone: How to navigate finding friends as an adult

Sarah Gill

Supper Club: Fearne Cotton’s haddock burrito, punchy salsa and homemade guacamole
Supper Club: Fearne Cotton’s haddock burrito, punchy salsa and homemade guacamole

Meg Walker

New life has been breathed into this Victorian Portobello home thanks to a revamp that’s full of personality
New life has been breathed into this Victorian Portobello home thanks to a revamp that’s...

Megan Burns

This rustic four-bedroom home in Westport is on the market for €449,000
This rustic four-bedroom home in Westport is on the market for €449,000

Sarah Finnan

My Career: Archivist at Guinness Eibhlin Colgan
My Career: Archivist at Guinness Eibhlin Colgan

Sarah Finnan

Image / Editorial

Ninety percent of Romanian electorate want marriage to remain between heterosexual people


By Edaein OConnell
09th Oct 2018
Ninety percent of Romanian electorate want marriage to remain between heterosexual people

A referendum to effectively ban same-sex marriage in Romania failed yesterday due to a low turnout of voters.

Voters were asked if they wished to change the text of their constitution to define marriage as “between a man and a woman”, rather than the current neutral definition of “between spouses”. Backing the ‘Yes’ side was the Coalition for the Family group whose aim is to uphold Christian and traditional values. The conservative group received over three million signatures in support of a referendum, and an opinion poll on Friday found that 90% of the electorate were in favour of the constitutional change. The Orthodox church heavily supported the yes vote also.

However, only 20.4% of eligible voters went to polls and in Romania, 30% is needed for a result to be eligible. Thus, the vote was deemed to be void and the referendum was not validated.

The country and its ruling political party, the Social Democrats, have been shrouded in controversy in recent months, with the party’s leader, Liviu Dragnea, due in court this week. The Social Democrats strongly supported the referendum, with the opposition believing the vote was conducted to distract from corruption scandals.

Although the referendum was not passed, Romania still fails to recognise civil partnerships or gay marriage. This may change, however, as in September the constitutional court governed that same-sex unions should have equal rights to those of their heterosexual counterparts.

At this current time, 73 nations of the world still accommodate laws against homosexuality.