US clerk known for anti-gay views campaigns against same-sex marriages in Romania

Rowan County clerk Kim Davis, known for her anti-gay views, has been campaigning against same-sex marriages in Romania this week. Kim Davis was jailed in the United States in 2015 for refusing to sign same-sex marriage licenses. The visit to Romania was organized by Liberty Counsel, an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family, according to its presentation. The group represented Kim Davis during the 2015 legal battle. Harry Mihet, Liberty Counsel's Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel, accompanied Kim Davis in her visit to Romania. Mihet was born in Timisoara, Romania, according to a press release from Liberty Counsel. During their nine-day visit, Kim Davis and Harry Mihet have been holding conferences in Romania's largest cities, including Bucharest, Cluj, Sibiu, Timisoara and Iasi. They also met with civic and political leaders and gave interviews to journalists. “Their message is simple and based upon the recent lessons learned in the United States: same-sex “marriage” and freedom of conscience are mutually exclusive, because those who promote the former have zero tolerance for the latter,” reads Liberty Counsel’s press release. In an interview with local Stiripesurse.ro, Kim Davis said: “Romanians should know that I love the Romanian people, I love Romania. They should know that there is hope, they have an opportunity to leave an inheritance to their children and grandchildren.” Kim Davis’ visit comes as Romania is preparing a referendum on changing the definition of family in Romania’s Constitution. At present, the Constitution defines the family as the free-willed marriage “between spouses”. However, the initiative’s promoters want to amend it so that it mentions that a family is the union between a man and a woman. The measure would thus make same-sex marriages impossible in Romania. In the interview for Stiripesurse.ro, Davis said that she came to Romania to launch a warning amid the preparation of this referendum. “Because the US didn’t have the marriage between a man and a woman in the Constitution, my religious freedom could be trampled.” The idea of organizing a referendum on changing the definition of family came after the Coalition for Family gathered three million signatures in support of this initiative last year. The Orthodox Church has also supported this project. Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), announced in early September that the referendum could be organized this fall. A few days later, the Chamber of Deputies took one more step towards the organization of this referendum