LGBTQ+ Polish couples’ fight for recognition
LGBTQIA+ rights campaigners demanding legal recognition for same-sex couples in Poland have hailed a European court ruling on Tuesday that increased pressure on Donald Tusk’s new government to quickly change the law.
Tusk said during campaigning that his party would introduce a provision for same-sex civil partnerships and he considered it a priority, a stance echoed by Equality Minister Katarzyna Kotula after Tuesday’s decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
As well as adding momentum towards civil unions legislation, LGBTQIA+ Poles said they hoped Tuesday’s ruling could boost their demands for equal marriage rights. “We hope that it will set in motion a whole avalanche of good changes in Poland,” Krzysztof Alcer and Grzegorz Lepianka – one of the five same-sex couples who took the case to the ECHR – said in a written statement.
Here’s what you need to know: What rights do Polish LGBTQIA+ couples have today? Poland is one of only six countries in the 27-member European Union that offers no legal recognition for same-sex partnerships – whether through gay marriage laws or civil union legislation.
