The country will vote on changing the constitutional definition of marriage to between one man and one woman.

Romania’s constitutional court ruled on Thursday that same-sex couples should have the same family rights as their opposite-gender counterparts. The decision comes ahead of a referendum on the issue scheduled for next month.

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The court ruled gay couples are entitled to the same private life and a family life as heterosexual couples, pointing Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and Article 26 of the Romanian constitution.

The country will vote on restricting the constitutional definition of marriage to one man and one woman, as opposed to “spouses” as it currently reads, on October 6 and 7.

“Today’s decision again confirms that the gay family is equal to any other family. The referendum is becoming totally useless in every respect since the Constitution of Romania already respects the equality of a married heterosexual family and couples of the same sex,” Romaniţa Iordache, vice president of LGBTQ advocacy group Accept told Balkan Insight.

Amnesty International has criticized the vote, saying it is a breach of international human rights standards and amounts to homophobic discrimination.

Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă is also reportedly taking heat from other Social Democrats in the EU Parliament over the referendum, who are saying it is not in keeping with their party’s philosophy.

Thursday’s ruling results from a case brought by a couple married in Belgium, one of whom is an American and the other a Romanian wishing to bring his husband back to his home country. This summer, the European Court of Justice ruled that Romania must recognize the residency rights of same-sex spouses.