In 2004 and 2005, the Warsaw authorities refused permission to hold them for various reasons, including the likelihood of counter-demonstrations, interference with religious or national holidays, and lack of authorization. [161] Nevertheless, on June 11, 2005, approximately 2,500 people marched illegally. Ten people were arrested. The ban was declared illegal by the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Bączkowski v. Poland in 2007. [162] Polish society tends to have conservative views on LGBT rights issues. A majority of the Polish population is affiliated with the Catholic Church and, as such, the public perception and acceptance of the LGBT community is strongly influenced by Catholic moral teachings. Article 18 of the Polish Constitution states: “Marriage as a union of a man and a woman shall be placed under the protection and custody of the Republic of Poland.” [7] According to several lawyers, this article prohibits same-sex marriage. [8] [9] [10] [11] The Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Administrative Court have ruled that Article 18 of the Constitution limits the institution of marriage to opposite-sex couples and that the legalization of same-sex marriage would require a constitutional amendment. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Poland also does not recognise registered partnerships, although the discussion on this issue is still ongoing. While the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party took an anti-immigrant stance ahead of Poland`s 2015 parliamentary elections, PiS focused on fighting so-called Western “LGBT ideology” in the run-up to Poland`s 2019 parliamentary elections.
[17] Encouraged by PiS national politicians[17], in April 2020, 100 municipalities (including five voivodeships), covering about a third of the country, had unofficially declared themselves “LGBT-free zones”. [18] Poland is the only country in Central Europe that does not prohibit discrimination against homosexuals. We provide legal representation in all types of proceedings concerning LGBT family life, including divorce, child custody, contact with children, division of property or the award of alimony and alimony. We represent transgender people in legal gender recognition proceedings. We also provide legal assistance in administrative procedures in cases concerning the modification of the birth certificate on the basis of a foreign document. In July 2015, the Polish Sejm adopted a law on the recognition of transgender people. Under the bill, transgender people could have changed their sex without physical intervention, but would have needed statements from mental health experts that they have gender dysphoria. The bill passed by 252 votes to 158. The Senate approved the law in August,[63] but President Andrzej Duda vetoed it in October. Parliament did not override its veto. [64] The Polish government is responsible for ensuring that the law distinguishes between medical processes related to sex reassignment and legal gender recognition, supporting both access to care for transgender people and adequate training for doctors. Although Poland does not have a specific law on cohabitation, it contains certain provisions in various acts or rulings of the Supreme Court that recognize relations between unmarried partners and grant these partners special rights and obligations.
For example, Article 115(11) of the Criminal Code (Polish: Kodeks karny) uses the expression “the closest person”, which includes romantic relationships that are not legally formalized. The status of “closest person” gives the right to refuse to testify against the partner. The term “partner” includes same-sex couples. On May 21, 2006, Roman Giertych stated that “LGBT organizations send transsexuals to kindergartens and ask children to change their sex.” [112] In June 2018, the Polish Supreme Court ruled that a printer in Łódź had acted unlawfully by refusing to print banners for a group of LGBT companies. The court held that the principle of equality meant that the printing company did not have the right to refuse services to the company. The court also ruled that a person`s sexual orientation, race or other characteristics cannot be grounds for refusing service, but that freedom of conscience and religion must also be taken into account. The campaign against homophobia welcomed the verdict, but it was condemned by Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who called the verdict “against freedom” and “state violence in the service of the ideology of homosexual activists.” [57] Ziobro filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court to find unconstitutional the provision on the basis of which the printer was convicted. On 26 June 2019, the court issued a judgment finding this provision incompatible with the Polish Constitution. [58] He specializes in intellectual and industrial law, information and communication technology (ICT) law, data protection and privacy, and cybersecurity. He has 20 years of experience in conducting legal audits and providing legal advice to Polish and international companies, mainly in the IT, telecommunications and media sectors. We are writing to invite you to sign the Gender Recognition Act of 10 September 2015. The legislation represents positive progress and will allow Poland to better align Poland with its international human rights obligations and best practices on legal gender recognition of transgender citizens.
For example, in Denmark[1] and Argentina[2], Ireland[3] and Malta[4] (following a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights[5]), transgender people can legally declare their own gender without any medical assessment procedure. Colombia[6] and Nepal[7] have also made progress in legal gender recognition in recent years. We provide comprehensive legal services in the area of compliance with the principle of equal treatment for employers, as well as legal representation of employees who have been violated by this principle. There are several definitions – click on the translation that fits your context. Between 2015 and 2020, the Polish government worked to reduce the effectiveness of anti-discrimination protection for LGBT people under EU law. Legal expert Marcin Górski examined recent anti-discrimination cases and noted that “the principle of equal treatment seems to be generally ineffective in Poland”. [5] [6] Human Rights Watch, “Nepal`s Transgender Passport Progress,” www.hrw.org/news/2015/08/10/dispatches-nepals-transgender-passport-progress openly banned from military service on medical grounds.