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Romania: First openly gay candidate runs for parliament
DW (English)
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11/26/2024
After hard-right candidate Calin Georgescu won round one of the presidential election last weekend, Romania will elect a new parliament on Sunday. Florin Buhuceanu is the first openly gay candidate to run for office in Romania.
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00:00
I usually go to the polls, even if I don't have anyone to vote for.
00:04
Have you ever voted for someone from a sexual minority?
00:07
Well, it doesn't matter. What matters is the ability of the person.
00:11
I am an Orthodox woman. I am married to a man. I have two children, four grandchildren.
00:19
So, I would like for what I did to continue. I won't say much more.
00:26
They are as quiet as we are. They don't bother us.
00:34
It's not crazy that they will convince others. It is what it is.
00:38
They are very tolerant, but I don't have preferences like this.
00:47
In a strongly Christian Orthodox country like Romania,
00:51
running for Parliament as an openly gay man is certainly not an easy undertaking.
00:56
But Florin Buhuceanu, one of the country's best-known LGBTQ plus activists, is undeterred.
01:03
It's hard. It's hard. It's hard.
01:05
But it's a type of dialogue that you have to have with the citizen
01:09
in order to understand who you are, what you want, what you hope from him, from her.
01:13
Did anyone recognize you?
01:16
Yes, two people, I think from the age of 20 until now.
01:20
They knew who I was and they knew where I was from.
01:23
It was nice to see them.
01:25
Buhuceanu and his partner Victor Ciobatoru are getting ready to go out campaigning.
01:30
They live together in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
01:33
Buhuceanu says that it was important for him to enter politics
01:36
because sexual minorities in Romania still experience discrimination.
01:41
I am old. I want to make sure that soon I will be able to live legally as a family in this country.
01:48
And I want to make sure that everything that means
01:56
the daily life of a family man will be protected by the law.
02:02
This will change a lot and who we are, me and Victor,
02:08
in a relationship, in a relationship with our neighbors,
02:12
in a relationship with those from the neighborhood,
02:14
in a relationship with those from Bucharest.
02:16
It's a change of status.
02:18
For almost 30 years, Florin Buhuceanu has been fighting for the rights
02:22
of the LGBTQ plus community to which he belongs.
02:25
Although the European Court of Human Rights ruled in May 2023
02:29
that Romania must recognize same-sex unions, nothing has changed.
02:35
Several draft laws have still not been passed by the Romanian Parliament.
02:39
We are in a situation where, in the absence of a political representation,
02:43
no political representation so far,
02:45
we really need a certain type of political support.
02:49
It is much harder to keep as an independent.
02:53
I must admit.
02:55
That's why Buhuceanu agreed to run for the Liberal Repair Party
02:59
in Sunday's parliamentary election.
03:03
It was the first political party that wrote in its political program
03:09
the need for the adoption of civil partnership
03:13
as a form of defending the right to family life
03:17
for those in my community.
03:21
And it was natural to collaborate with colleagues
03:25
with whom I have worked for a long time.
03:28
Buhuceanu believes that his candidacy is a very important step
03:32
towards creating a kind of normality for the LGBTQ plus community in Romania.
03:36
It is an extremely important signal for those who are today
03:40
young and very young, who often leave Romania
03:44
precisely because they know that they have no chance as a family
03:48
in this country and do not want to live their lives unpredictably.
03:55
It is a signal that will motivate some of them
03:59
to stay in Romania, to start a family here
04:03
and to have a good life.
04:08
Buhuceanu pays a visit to the offices of Repair.
04:12
His colleague, Catalin Tinița, is also running for parliament.
04:17
First of all, it is a kind of duty to represent those who are not represented.
04:24
We enter politics to increase the space of freedom.
04:28
Hannah Arendt, the philosopher, says that the true politicians
04:32
or people who are relevant in politics are the ones who create the island of freedom.
04:36
Ramonas Drugariu is co-president of the party.
04:40
We do not talk about these things and we bring certain polarizing issues
04:44
to the electoral campaigns because they benefit one or the other.
04:48
And the discussion I have is that it should be between the electoral campaigns.
04:53
The LGBTQ community faces a lot of animosity.
04:57
It is something you get used to.
05:01
People want to reduce you to a certain category.
05:05
They want to use this subject as a sexual orientation
05:09
because they can make a negative political campaign out of it.
05:13
But again, you get used to this type of attack.
05:18
After a day on the campaign trail, Buhuceanu finds peace at home
05:22
in his relationship. He hopes that one day not only his relationship
05:26
but others in the LGBTQ plus community will be recognized by the state.
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