The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is about to rule on the recognition of same-sex marriage in all the Member States of the European Union in Coman and Others. The case concerns Romania’s failure to recognize the same-sex marriage between a Romanian and US citizen concluded in Belgium. International actors of all leanings are actively intervening in the European dispute over marriage equality. Among these are US conservative groups, who, by calling this case “the Obergefell of Europe”, seek to re-frame the debates and defend what they see as “religious freedom”.

Please join us for a critical conversation on this global circulation of ideas on marriage, (sex) equality and national identity. Panelists include the plaintiff in the CJEU case, Adrian Coman, who will talk about his case and its possible outcome; Elena Brodeala (LLM ‘18) who will consider the way that the debates over this case intersect with the local efforts to preserve the gendered nature of the “traditional family” in Romania; and Professor Mary Anne Case (University of Chicago, Law School) who will contextualize the case through a discussion of the transnational "war on gender ideology” and of the different political and legal venues chosen to fight for equality.

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