In Romania, A Historic 30,000 People Showed Up For Bucharest Pride This Year
In Romania, where homosexuality was illegal until 2001, 30,000 people just marched in the country’s biggest Pride ever.
As recent as 2018, Romanian conservatives attempted to criminalize homosexuality once again—though the measure failed. It’s a stark reminder that only in 2001 was homosexuality officially decriminalized in Romania; before then, simply being openly LGBTQ+ in the streets could bring legal punishment. Today, the struggle remains intense, with conservative and centrist politicians circulating tired, wildly inaccurate rhetoric that LGBTQ+ people “groom” children and that banning queer visibility is somehow a form of protection. One especially extreme manifestation came when notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ billionaire Gigi Becali backed a counter-to-Pride-march to “cleanse the streets” of what he called “impurities.”
But the backlash from the community has been nothing short of spectacular. In Bucharest this year, around 30,000 people gathered for Pride on June 7—the largest turnout in the country’s history. Although it has always been a parade, this year felt more like a protest. It was a public, powerful refusal to be erased.
This year’s march marked the 20th anniversary of Pride in Romania and was organized by ACCEPT, the country’s leading LGBTQ+ rights organization. Founded in 1996, ACCEPT led the charge to repeal Article 200, the law that criminalized homosexuality. That law was finally abolished in 2001, and by 2005, Romania saw its first Pride parade in Bucharest—also spearheaded by ACCEPT. Since then, the organization has been the heartbeat of queer resistance in a country where progress is often painfully slow.
Hate crimes and public harassment have surged during the 2024–25 election season, fueled by far-right rhetoric and religious extremism. One building in the city even displayed a massive “STOP LGBT” banner ahead of the parade.
The day transformed the heart of Bucharest into a sea of rainbow flags, trans visibility signs, and banners demanding civil union legislation and basic legal protection. Just weeks before, centrist candidate Nicușor Dan narrowly defeated far-right leader George Simion in the presidential race. Simion’s campaign had leaned heavily on anti-LGBTQ+ populism, and counter-protesters emboldened by that rhetoric staged fringe demonstrations, including one where participants used holy water to “exorcise” the Pride parade’s typical route.
Romania continues to lag behind the rest of the European Union in LGBTQ+ rights, though that didn’t stop the march. If anything, it made it more urgent. The 30,000-person-strong wave of colorful defiance was a reminder that visibility is power.
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