Love in the time of courts: Two men against the Romanian state

Adrian Coman, a 45-year old Romanian-born married man, who is now living in the US, can come to Romania, go to the city hall and marry again. In an absurd legal twist, it would be perfectly legal.

The two men arrived in Bucharest on Monday, July 18, after a ten-hour flight from New York. They were a bit tired, and cautiously optimistic. Four years before, in 2012, Adrian Coman thought about moving back to Romania, the country he left when he was 30. He wanted to return with his husband, Clay Hamilton. They had met in the Central Park in 2002 and fallen in love. On Tuesday, Adrian and Clay held a press conference in Bucharest. The weather in Romania was terribly hot. Adrian had a grey suit on, with a coloured tie whereas Clay was wearing a beige costume with a matching tie. Adrian was used to talking in front of cameras, even about private things such as his sexuality. But this time the stake was higher. His parents were also there, next to him. On Wednesday morning, Adrian Coman went to the Romanian Constitutional Court. His lawyer Iustina Ionescu spoke first. Adrian was then given permission to talk. “I just had twenty seconds and I basically said that I hope they will take the International Human Rights Law into account in their decision,” Adrian recalls. At 4pm that day, the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Valer Dorneanu gave a statement in the media and said that they couldn’t make a decision then. They would continue deliberations two months later, on September 20th.