Platforma Obywatelska (PO), the ruling party in Poland, is expected to introduce legislation legalizing same-sex civil partnerships, but the measure is facing harsh criticism in the deeply Catholic nation.
A draft of the bill, similar to the civil-partnership law in France, offers numerous benefits including medical rights and access to pensions and inheritance,—but stops short of bestowing adoption rights and joint tax filing.
It’s a surprising turn for the centrist party—especially since PO opposed a similar bill last year—but it could be a way to stave off full marriage equality should the European Union push for more recognition of same-sex couples across the continent.
Opponents, including justice minister Jaroslaw Gowin and members of the reactionary Law & Justice Party, claim civil partnerships will undermine the institution of marriage. Anti-gay sentiment still plagues the Eastern-European country, which currently has a ban on same-sex marriage: Nearly 80% of Poles opposing gay marriage, and 66% believing LGBT people shouldn’t have the right to organize public demonstrations. (Pride parades in Warsaw and elsewhere have been canceled over safety concerns.)
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The tide is turning, though: In October Poland elected its first openly gay member of parliament, Robert Biedro?, and its first transgender MP, Anna Grodzka.
Photo: Paul David Doherty
Merv
Not likely. Poland is the Jamaica of Europe.
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http://www.queerty.com/jaroslaw-kaczynski-gay-twin-brother-of-polands-homophobic-dead-president-wants-the-job-20100426/