Attitudes in Romania are generally conservative , with regard to the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens. In the past two decades, it fully decriminalised homosexuality, introduced and enforced wide-ranging anti-discrimination laws, equalised the age of consent and introduced laws against homophobic hate crimes. In , Romania was named by Human Rights Watch as one of five countries in the world that had made "exemplary progress in combating rights abuses based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Penal Code promulgated by Alexandru Ioan Cuza in , inspired mainly by the French Penal Code of which, over time, had eliminated the penal discrimination of homosexuality , [ 9 ] did not treat homosexual relations differently from heterosexual ones, [ 10 ] and thus, homosexuality was only illegal if it was done on an unconsensual basis. Starting with , the corresponding Transylvanian-Hungarian code penalised gay men only if they engaged in violent homosexual acts, such as rape or attempted rape.
Influenced by anti-gay legislation in totalitarian fascist states, the Romanian Penal Code criminalised homosexuality in the country for the first time in This Code as result of public debate on sexuality banned public homosexuality only Article penalised "acts of sexual inversion committed between men or between women, if provoking public scandal".
In the new Penal Code of the Romanian People's Republic , Article toughened penalties to a minimum of two years' and a maximum of five years' imprisonment. In particular, Romania had to prove that sexual minority human rights were not violated by the country's policies and legislation. And the possibility of eventual entry into the European Union had a powerful effect on legal change.
There are currently no laws against gay citizens in Romania, aside from those that deny equality in marriage. Since , the age of consent has been equal for both heterosexual and homosexual sex, at 15 years of age, which was lifted to 16 in for both heterosexual and homosexual sex.
