Lesbian couple allowed to register child in Poland for the first time
This is not flirting (Pexels)
A lesbian couple has won the right to register their child in Poland, in an unprecedented ruling for the country.
The decision, handed down today (October 11) by the country’s Supreme Administrative Court, ends a three-year legal battle started by a Polish woman who tried to get her London-born son a Polish birth certificate, according to Reuters.
She and her female partner were registered as his parents in Britain, but Polish administrative officials rejected her attempts to do the same in the country.
Poland’s Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak speaks to press (CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/AFP/Getty)
After going to the highest administrative court in the land, the couple has now overturned that decision.
Same-sex partners in Poland are not allowed to have children, with adoption, surrogacy and IVF routes blocked off by regressive laws.
The country is one of several in Europe which has not legalised same-sex marriage or civil unions for gay couples and in August, its right-wing Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak called a Pride march in Poznan a “parade of sodomites.”
Pawel Knut, a lawyer for Polish LGBT+ rights group Campaign Against Homophobia, said: “This ruling will open up new legal possibilities for gay parents.”
He added: “It civilises and increases the safety of families who choose to live partially in Poland and partially abroad.”
Participants of a Pride parade walk through the streets of Poznan (WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP/Getty)
Poland is ranked 38th among 49 European countries when it comes to LGBT+ rights, according to rights group ILGA-Europe’s annual Rainbow Europe index.
Earlier this year, 39-year-old British national James Pickering, and his 25-year-old Polish-German boyfriend Joseph Czarny were victims of a brutal attack while visiting the country.
Pickering (pictured) suffered from concussion as a result of the attack. (Courtesy of James Pickering and Joseph Czarny)
The couple told PinkNews that they were subjected to a homophobic attack by two men shouting “faggots” and “gay c***s” on a busy beach in Gdańsk on the country’s north coast—while onlookers stood by and did nothing.
After being abused on the beach, they left, only for the perpetrators to follow them.
“We went to the exit of the beach, and they attacked us from behind,” Pickering said. “I was punched twice in the back of the head and it was so hard that I fell into a fence.
Poznan hosted Mr Gay Europe this year (WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP/Getty)
“My partner Joseph was then punched in his face and fell over as well, breaking his phone on the floor.”
And in July, the Minister for Internal Affairs Joachim Brudziński told the police to prosecute LGBT+ people, accusing them of “desecrating” the Polish coat of arms by featuring it on a Pride flag during a march.
But this was the second court ruling this year which has raised hopes for campaigners in the country, after the Supreme Court ruled against a businessman who refused to print posters for an LGBT+ business because he did not want to “promote” gay rights.
