The court decision is a rare win for conservative and religious Poland, one of the worst places to be LGBTI in Europe
Lesbian parents in Poland can register their child, the country’s highest court ruled on Thursday (11 October).
Importantly, the ruling was celebrated as the first of its kind in conservative and deeply religious Poland.
The Polish woman and her partner first tried to register their child for a birth certificate in 2015, according to local media. Their son was born in London in 2014.
Local administration rejected their application, however, and the couple took the case to court.
The Supreme Administrative Court ruled the couple could register their child.
‘This ruling will open up new legal possibilities for gay parents’ Pawel Knut, a lawyer for Poland’s Campaign Against Homophobia, told Reuters.
‘It civilizes and increases the safety of families’, he also said.
Pride shut down
Rights organizations consider Poland as one of the worse places to be LGBTI in Europe.
Same-sex marriage is not legal. What’s more LGBTI individuals lack the basic rights of neighboring European countries.
Significantly, Poland’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party is largely anti-LGBT rights.
This week, authorities canceled a pride march in the city of Lublin scheduled for Saturday. Authorities cited ‘security concerns’.
According to local reports, the regional governor Przemyslaw Czarnek, appointed by PiS, called on Mayor Krzysztof Zuk to cancel the event.
Czarnek said the march promoted ‘sexual behavior incompatible with nature’ and ‘pedophilia’. He also accused equality demonstrators of ‘deviance’ and ‘perversion’.
On Thursday, Poland blocked an EU rights charter over objections about the inclusion of LGBTI rights.
Poland opposed text that said ‘LGBTI persons are still frequently victims of discrimination, physical violence and incitement to hatred and violence throughout the EU’, according to the Financial Times.
by Rik Glauert
Source – Gay Star News
