Romania’s Senate has backed a referendum on marriage, after pro-family groups organised a petition signed by millions.
Currently, the country’s constitution speaks of unions between “spouses”, but campaigners want it to specify “a man and a woman”.
On Tuesday, the Senate backed the vote by 107 votes to 13. The ruling party says a referendum could be held as early as next month.
Three million
In 2016, the Coalition for Family group gathered three million signatures calling for a public vote on marriage.
Reuters reports that under Romanian law, the constitution can be changed by a petition of at least 500,000 citizens.
Parliament must endorse the requests, before a national referendum. The lower house backed the idea of a vote in 2017.
A law considering same-sex civil partnerships is slated for future Parliamentary consideration.
In the UK, the Coalition for Marriage gathered over 600,000 signatures to preserve the definition of marriage – but the Government nevertheless introduced same-sex marriage.