Coaliția pentru Familie (CpF, ; English: Coalition for Family) is an association of about 30 Romanian non-governmental organizations. It seeks to promote the traditional family, and it is also involved in the anti-abortion movement.
In 2016, 'Coaliția pentru familie' gathered 3 million signatures in favor of replacing "spouses" with "a man and a woman" in article 48 of the Romanian constitution. Immediately after the 3 million signatures were submitted to the Romanian Parliament, an open letter was published in the support of LGBT community, signed by 1000 public figures (including film producers, pop singers, people from the fashion industry, artists, intellectuals). The letter of support soon became an online petition raised over 10.000 more signatures. The American evangelical Christian organization Liberty Counsel and Alliance Defending Freedom International have both publicly supported the initiative and have submitted briefs to the Constitutional Court in support of a referendum. The Romanian Orthodox Church also announced its official support for the initiative in mid-January 2016. In July 2016, the Constitutional Court issued a unanimous ruling that allows the referendum proposal to move forward. In response, LGBT advocacy groups, like Accept, MozaiQ and TRANSform, expressed dissatisfaction with CCR’s decision, claiming that it could lead "to a rise in social tensions and hate crimes". On July 20, 2016, right after the Constitutional Court released its decision allowing the initiative to ban gay marriage in the Constitution to move forward, the LGBT community reacted and organized an unauthorized protest in University Square in Bucharest, with an attendance of 50.
Under Romanian law, the constitution can be changed after a proposal by the president, the government, a quarter of the members of the Parliament of Romania or at least 500,000 citizens. Parliament must then approve the revision, which must then pass a nationwide referendum. The coalition's efforts to amend the constitution have been ongoing since 2013, when Amnesty International helped defeat a similar amendment. However, it participated in a successful campaign against the introduction of civil partnerships into law. Other proposals presented by the coalition include the taxation of celibacy, the banning of adoptions by single parents and the active discouragement of sexual intercourse between unmarried persons.
The initiative was approved by the Senate on 11 September 2018 and the Romanian constitutional referendum took place on 6 and 7 October 2018, failing due to insufficient turnout.
Controversies and criticism
The coalition bills itself as an independent civic initiative, unaffiliated to any religion. However, among its 43 listed members, many share strong political and religious views. Southern Poverty Law Center calls the association "a nebulous umbrella group of local rightwing organizations" and raises concerns over the involvement of American anti-LGBT groups, such as Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Liberty Counsel, World Congress of Families (WCF) and "European Center of Law and Justice" (ECLJ), who "filed legal briefs, lobbied or campaigned in favor of the change".
APOR (The Association for Parents pro Religious Courses) is at the top of the list, which successfully campaigned for religious classes in schools, and has its headquarters in the social center of The Archdiocese of Bucharest. Other religious NGOs are „Vladimir Ghika” - The Association of Romanian Catholic Families, Association Ieromonah Arsenie Boca, several Christian-Orthodox associations and an Orthodox news website called "Lăcașuri Ortodoxe".
Pro Vita București and Alianța Familiilor are two other notable members with a strong pro-life stance, which also favor conversion therapy treatments. An internal document from Pro Vita, which presents its political agenda for Romania, deems sexual minorities "morally inferior", and states that divorce, same-sex marriage, abortion (even for rape cases), and contraception do not pertain to the individual's private life. Pro Vita seeks to "impose authentic moral principles" based on a "God-given natural law" onto society at large, including all those who oppose their views.