Polish government presents bill introducing same-sex partnerships
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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s government has presented a bill to introduce legally recognised partnerships for same-sex couples. The country is currently one of only five in the EU that does not offer such partnerships, and the European Court of Human Rights ruled last year that this violates the rights of same-sex couples.
However, although their introduction is supported by most of the groups that make up Poland’s ruling coalition, it is likely to face opposition from one of their conservative allies. Even if the bill were to be approved by parliament, it faces a possible veto by conservative President Andrzej Duda.
To już oficjalne! Projekty ustaw o rejestrowanych związkach partnerskich, które były omawiane z organizacjami pozarządowymi zostały skierowane do konsultacji publicznych i międzyresortowych 📣
To dla mnie bardzo ważny dzień, bo w Wasze ręce oddaję efekt wielu miesięcy pracy… pic.twitter.com/ARcfxIuppJ
— Katarzyna Kotula (@KotulaKat) October 18, 2024
In July this year, a bill to introduce civil partnerships – which would also be available to opposite-sex couples – was added to the government’s agenda. On Friday this week, draft legislation was published on the government’s website and will now be consulted publicly and between ministries.
The proposed law would allow any two unmarried adults, regardless of their gender, to enter a registered partnership at a registry office. This would provide them with enhanced rights and obligations relating to taxation, healthcare and inheritance, among other things.
“The registered partnership will be based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination, ensuring that all people, regardless of gender, have the opportunity to fulfil their needs and life desires,” reads the legislation.
“The bill is a response to the social needs of same-sex couples who do not have access to the institution of marriage, but also of different-sex couples living in informal relationships who, for various reasons, cannot or do not want to enter into marriage,” it adds.
It will “will protect these people from exclusion, and will also provide the opportunity to clearly define mutual rights and obligations”.
One thing that is not included in the legislation is the possibility for one of the members of the partnership to adopt their partner’s children. That is something LGBT+ rights groups have called for.
“There we took a step back, a compromise step,” equality minister Katarzyna Kotula, who has been responsible for preparing the bills, told broadcaster TVN. She said that the Polish People’s Party (PSL), the most conservative element of the ruling coalition, would not have agreed to adoption.
Poland’s lack of legal recognition for same-sex unions violates human rights, the European Court of Human Rights ruled today.
The judges rejected the Polish government’s arguments, which included that traditional marriage is part of Poland’s heritage https://t.co/Q4mMTNnItA
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 12, 2023
However, it still remains to be seen whether PSL will support the legislation even in its current form. “The bill was not consulted with the PSL community,” one of the party’s MPs, Adam Dziedzic, told the Interia news website.
“The order should have be reversed: first, consultation with coalition partners, then the announcement, and not [just] presenting us with the fact,” he added.
Dziedzic said that he “would not support a law that brings us closer to equating civil partnerships with marriage, because I believe that issues such as inheritance, tax issues, burial matters or the issue of hospital visits [for unmarried couples] can be regulated in a different way”.
A senior PSL figure, Marek Sawicki, told TVN that his party’s MPs would likely be allowed to vote freely on the issue. “Whether they will obtain a majority [in support of the legislation], I don’t know,” he added.
Poland has been ranked as the worst country in the EU for LGBT+ people for the fifth year in a row https://t.co/5ciljeroir
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 15, 2024
The introduction of civil partnerships is supported by the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), the main ruling group, as well as its junior partner The Left (Lewica), from which Kotula hails. Yesterday, Kotula said that another governing party, the centrist Poland 2050 (Polska 2050), is also supportive.
Meanwhile, the right-wing opposition – made up of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) – is opposed to same-sex civil partnerships.
In 2020, while campaigning for re-election, President Duda, a PiS ally, hinted that he would be willing to sign into law a bill on same-sex partnerships. However, this year his chief of staff announced that “the president does not support civil partnerships”.
Polling has shown in recent years that a majority of the Polish public support the introduction of same-sex partnerships. Last month, a survey by the Ipsos agency showed 62% in favour.
A growing majority of Poles favour the legalisation of same-sex civil unions or marriage, with almost two thirds now in favour, a new poll has found https://t.co/ivS7MswKWi
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 10, 2022
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Miłość Nie Wyklucza/Flickr (under CC BY-ND 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
