Although President Karol Nawrocki has announced a veto on civil partnerships, and the government has just opened the door to recognizing foreign same-sex marriages, Katarzyna Kotula is outlining a much more far-reaching vision of change. The government’s plenipotentiary for equality argues that an “ideal solution” would include not only civil partnerships and same-sex marriages, but also the possibility for such couples to adopt children.
Recently, Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski and Minister of the Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński signed a regulation specifying new templates for marriage certificates. This will enable civil registry offices across Poland to transcribe foreign certificates of so-called same-sex marriages. The regulation will come into force at the end of August.
This regulation, as explained by those in power, is a consequence of a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union from November last year. At that time, the CJEU obliged Poland to recognize same-sex marriages concluded in other European Union countries. The ruling was subsequently upheld by Polish administrative courts, which ordered its implementation.
No Consent from the President
President Karol Nawrocki has repeatedly emphasized that he will not agree to equating the institution of marriage, as regulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, with so-called same-sex marriages. A few days ago, his associates confirmed this position during a press conference.
Paweł Szefernaker, Head of the Chancellery of the President, said: “A bill is currently being processed in parliament that effectively introduces civil partnerships in Poland. These are exactly two bills. Yesterday, an extraordinary committee adopted both bills. Today there will be a second reading. A vote in the third reading in the Sejm is planned later this week. Both bills effectively introduce civil partnerships into Polish law. On behalf of the President, I would like to point out what he has said from the very beginning. There is no and will be no consent from the President to introduce or legalize civil partnerships”, he said.
The environment of President Nawrocki raised this issue in the context of the “closest person status” bill, which was passed in the Sejm on Friday.
Moreover, the opposition regularly warns that legalizing civil partnerships and same-sex marriages is “the first step.” The next step, they argue, would be the adoption of children by homosexual couples.
Adoption of Children? Kotula: It Would Be Ideal
Today, speaking on RMF FM, Katarzyna Kotula, the government plenipotentiary for equality and an MP of the New Left (NL), presented a vision of an “ideal solution.” This includes the adoption of children by same-sex couples.
“I know one family where two women live together and there are children. One of the women is struggling with an illness. The future of the children is uncertain. I cannot imagine any other future for these children than staying in that family. There is no substantive argument [against it]. This is some kind of panic, a phobia – this is homophobia – in a situation where Speaker Krzysztof Bosak says it is worth taking such a child and giving it to some strangers. That child was raised there. Someone woke that child up, fed them, read to them at bedtime (…)”, she said.
As she stated, “the ideal solution would be to have a law on registered partnerships. There should be a possibility of intra-family adoption. It will probably happen in the future. Then we should introduce, when there is a majority for it in the Sejm and Senate, and with the right president or president, marriage equality”, she added.
When asked whether she meant same-sex marriages, she replied: “yes, same-sex marriages – if they were introduced – there should be the possibility of adoption”, she concluded.