Puiu Hașotti (; born 14 June 1953) is a

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n politician of Aromanian descent. He is a vice-president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the leader of the party's group in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. In April 2013, Hașotti incited controversy by declaring that he considers gay people to be "sick people". He also said that, "Homosexuality is not a normal state, it is not a natural relationship". The comments were made in the context of political debate about same-sex civil unions in Romania. Accept, Romania's national LGBT rights organisation, stated that they believed Hașotti's comments were a breach of anti-discrimination law and would report him to the National Council for Combating Discrimination.

Early life and education

Puiu Hașotti was born on 14 June 1953 in

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

. He is an Aromanian. Hașotti graduated from the Faculty of History, University of Bucharest in 1976 and received his doctorate in historical sciences in 1995. The year before he was a Fulbright Fellow at San Francisco State University. Before entering politics, Hașotti worked as a curator, principal curator, and then senior researcher (between 1976 and 1996). He also was a counsellor at Constanța County Inspectorate for Culture (1990–1995), and a lecturer at the University Ovidius Constanța, Faculty of History (1990–1996). He later gained an associate professorship at this institution, which he still holds.

References

Puiu Hașotti's page at the Senate of Romania

* ttp://www.mediafax.ro/cultura-media/biografie-liberalul-puiu-hasotti-parlamentar-din-1996-nominalizat-ca-ministru-al-culturii-9765631 Biography National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Members of the Senate of Romania Ministers of culture of Romania 1953 births Living people People from Constanța Aromanian people Romanian people of Aromanian descent {{Romania-politician-stub