Katarzyna Kotula, the government’s plenipotentiary for equality, told PAP that Poland currently discriminates against children raised by same-sex couples, so-called rainbow families. She said she will work to settle the legal status of these children and hopes that today’s ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) will help.
– I would like the NSA ruling to require Poland to formally recognize the children of same-sex couples in the legal system. These parents worry about their children’s future: the lack of documents, the lack of a Pesel number [Poland’s national ID number], the lack of a passport is a form of discrimination against Polish citizens, tiny ones, but Polish citizens nonetheless – Kotula told PAP. She was referring to the ongoing session of the NSA on the transcription of a foreign birth certificate of a girl being raised by two mothers.
The girl was born in Spain, where her birth certificate was issued. Her mothers have been fighting since 2019 to have it transcribed, meaning entered into the Polish registry.
In Kotula’s view, the birth certificates of children raised by same-sex couples could read: mother/mother, mother/father or father/father.
The government’s plenipotentiary for equality said the NSA’s decision will be very important for all children raised by same-sex couples. At the same time, she added, it will be another step, after the transcription of same-sex marriage certificates, in regulating the situation of such couples in Poland.
– Children in rainbow families are still not protected. Poland discriminates against children in rainbow families. I hope we will put an end to this discrimination – Kotula told PAP, adding that since the beginning of her work as equality plenipotentiary she has pressed for regulating the rights of same-sex couples and their children.
– After today’s ruling, I think we will spend a few weeks analyzing it and looking for solutions to these issues within the government. As a politician of the Left (Lewica), I can say that if we fail to quickly work out a solution within the government, then as a politician of the Left I will be saying that we should push ahead with the marriage equality bill, which will protect these children. I will simply submit such a bill – Kotula announced.
Asked whether she believes such a law could be introduced in Poland, she replied that she “is in government to do impossible things.”
– Everyone said we would not manage to transcribe marriages, that we would not get to joint tax filing, and yet we succeeded. We will deliver on these issues – Kotula added.
Since Aug. 23, a regulation has been in force allowing a same-sex marriage certificate issued abroad to be transferred into the civil registry through transcription. However, several dozen entries had been made earlier, before the regulation took effect. The first transcription, in mid-May, was carried out by the civil registry office in the capital. It concerned the marriage of Jakub Cupriak-Trojan and Mateusz Trojan, who wed in Berlin in 2018.
By early October, Polish civil registry offices had transcribed a total of 516 same-sex marriage certificates issued abroad. Of these, 198 involved marriages of women and 318 marriages of men.
The first institution to commit to respecting the transcription of marriages was ZUS, Poland’s Social Insurance Institution. As a result, people whose certificates have been transferred to the civil registry can count on a number of benefits paid by ZUS, including a care allowance, available when a person must look after a sick spouse. By early October, ZUS had paid two care allowances to same-sex couples on that basis. (PAP)
