Marching for traditional family in the capital of Romania

by Victor Grigore, Webphoto.ro

It has become a tradition in itself to have two parallel events every summer in Bucharest: pride parade and a counter protest for normality. The meeting of conservative activists who oppose the LGBT agenda had its gathering in front of the Government in Victory Square. And was continued with a march from there on Magheru Boulevard, through University Plaza, to Unirea Shopping Center and finally on the hill of the Christian Orthodox Patriarchy.

The two events were derailed in the last years by events like the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and in the last year by a long series of elections from June to December, with the presidential ones being cancelled and held again up to late May 2025. But the debate in society remains vivid. The return of Donald Trump at the White House seemed to slow down the march of the sexual revolution, with its announced cancellation of USAID funding that was supporting many NGOs with this agenda. But the European Union remains with the same ambition of changing the definition of a family to include gay marriage and to favor sex changes.

The victory of a progressive candidate for president, Nicușor Dan, after two nationalists were barred to compete in the race by the Constitutional Court, brings back the specter of more LGBT changes in legislation. Particularly, there is the decision of EU’s human rights court that ruled in favour of a same sex couple, which is interpreted by many politicians as a pressure for Romania to soon recognize at least civil partnerships if not same sex marriages.

Needless to say that the participants at this particular rally strongly oppose such changes. They don’t want the legalization of same sex marriages, the possibility of gay couples to adopt children and are especially opposed to teaching sex education in schools. They underline that such courses are tinted by progressive propaganda and are sexualizing infants by putting them into contact with the obsessions of adults.

Diana Șoșoacă, the leader of on of the three nationalist parties that entered the Parliament in December was one of the leading speakers at this protest. Carrying a cross, the European member of Parliament stressed that Romania has a Christian tradition that is conflicting with the gay propaganda in schools. Also among participants was Tudor Ionescu, also a parliamentarian of SOS Romania Party, who is organizing such rallies for decades, from the time he was the leader of the New Right party.

The division among the conservative right made it so that only one of the three parties who support similar values was represented at this rally. Most of the participants are not politically affiliated and just support the objective of protecting the traditional family, made up of a man and a woman. The peaceful rally ended in the Orthodox Cathedral of Romanian Patriarchate, an institution that is naturally supportive of the traditional family and resisted the reforms other churches have made in the West.