(Above photo by Ludovic Bertron, from Wikimedia Commons)
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) | Romania’s top court has ruled that a gay Romanian-American couple is entitled to the same residency rights as other married couples in the European Union.
The Constitutional Court ruling issued July 18 followed a decision last month by the European Court of Justice in the case of Romanian Adrian Coman and his American husband, Claibourn Robert Hamilton. The men wanted their marriage legally recognized in Romania.
The European Union court ruled that member countries “may not obstruct the freedom of residence of EU citizens by refusing to grant residence for the same-sex spouse.”
The ruling didn’t prohibit countries from continuing to ban same-sex marriages.
Romanian Constitutional Court chief judge Valer Dorneanu said Wednesday’s national ruling was not about recognizing same-sex marriage, but about freedom of movement.
