Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk (L) and his deputies (2nd L-R) Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski, and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski
Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP
The change follows an EU court ruling, though critics say Poland was not obliged to alter its marriage law.
Donald Tusk’s government has replaced the words “woman” and “man” in key official documents with gender-neutral terms so that same-sex marriages conducted elsewhere can be recognised in Poland.
This follows the European Court of Justice’s November ruling that Poland must recognise a gay couple’s foreign marriage despite the country itself forbidding same-sex marriage.
But a host of politicians and legal experts have argued that Warsaw was not obliged to introduce this change of language. Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, however, appeared to concede that the move was voluntary, saying his team “wanted to” recognise same-sex marriages.
In a statement released on Friday, Gawkowski announced the signing of “documents that start the process of changing the templates of civil status records, so that the state operates efficiently and equally towards all citizens.”
This is the right of citizens to equal treatment, regardless of sexual orientation. It is a matter of dignity, but also of the life stability of families that already exist.
Polska ma obowiązek uznawać małżeństwa osób tej samej płci zawartego legalnie w innych krajach UE. To prawo, które musimy i chcemy stosować – wyrok TSUE jest jasny.
Podpisałem dziś dokumenty, które rozpoczynają proces zmiany wzorów aktów stanu cywilnego, tak aby państwo…
This is not the language of a government acting under legal duress.
Jurist and political figure Krystyna Pawłowicz responded over the weekend that “Poland DOES NOT have such an obligation,” urging the deputy PM to “please familiarise yourself and act in accordance with the Polish Constitution.”
Former PiS defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak also rejected claims that a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union was “clear” and absolutely binding on Polish family policy, describing this interpretation as “an abuse.” He added:
The Court has no competence to interfere with the constitutionally defined model of marriage in the member states. The Union has not been granted competences in the area of family law under the Treaties, and family policy as well as the status of marriage remain within the domain of the nation states.
Reports say the words “woman” and “man” will be replaced with “first spouse” (“pierwszy małżonek”) and “second spouse” (“drugi małżonek”). Krzysztof Bosak, Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the Sejm, described this as “an attempt to introduce the effects of homosexual ‘marriages’ through the back door. This decision,” he said, “must be corrected, in accordance with the principles of the rule of law.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
