A referendum in Romania asking whether to ban same-sex marriage has failed due to low turnout.
Only 20 percent of eligible people turned up to vote on whether the constitution should be changed to specify that marriage can only take place between a man and a woman—well short of the 30 percent that was required for it to be binding.
A poll just last week suggested that the change, which had been supported by the ruling Social Democrats (PSD), had the backing of 90 percent of people.
Before the vote, Mihai Gheorghiu, president of the pro-referendum Coalition for Family, told the BBC his campaign aimed to protect, at a constitutional level, the definition of marriage between one woman and one man.
It also had the support of the Orthodox Church in the religiously conservative country, which only decriminalized homosexuality in 2001.
But the "no" campaign's strategy of encouraging a boycott of the vote so it would fall below the threshold appears to have worked.
Although the country does not recognize gay marriage or civil unions, the wording of the constitution in defining marriage will remain that a family "is founded on the freely consented marriage of the spouses."
Dan Barna from the Save Romania Union, which opposed the referendum, said the government had wasted $46 million of public money on the campaign "on a fantasy" and called for resignations.
Sociologist Gelu Duminica told Agence France Presse: "The aggressiveness of the 'Yes' campaign, the attempt to instill hatred against a minority, has made Romanians reticent to vote."
Opponents of the referendum said it was designed to distract the public from government corruption scandals. The Social Democratic Party leader, Liviu Dragnea, is facing a three-and-a-half year jail sentence over a fake jobs scandal.
Vlad Viski of LGBT rights group MozaiQ said: "Romanians rejected being divided and hating each other, it is a victory for Romanian democracy and moreover, Romanians rejected the involvement of the Orthodox Church in the state's secular affairs."
"We believe politicians must now legalize civil partnerships for same-sex couples," he added, according to Reuters.
There were concerns that had the referendum received a "yes" vote, it would have been used to steer the country down a more authoritarian path.
Sergiu Miscoiu, a political science professor at Babes-Bolyai University, told Reuters: "The PSD staked everything on the referendum, by associating with it and trying to capitalize on it.
"What remains is the fact that many citizens have associated the initiative with the PSD and that is why they boycotted it. Either way, it is a major sanction against the government."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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