Poland Acknowledges Same-Sex Partnerships

Author: Ana MC Budeanu

June 3, 2026

HRRC endorses Poland’s efforts to acknowledge same-sex partnerships across its territory. Further, we call for greater support for this effort to become wide-spread and for same-sex partnerships to be considered a normal part of daily national administration and acceptance.

Will Poland Support Same-Sex Partnerships? [Photo credit: Unsplash]

Poland passed a law on May 29, 2026 that formally acknowledged same-sex partnerships for the first time in the nation’s history. The lower house of the Polish Parliament, known as the Sejm, passed a law that in part acknowledged the existence  of same-sex partnerships; the bill passed with 230 yes-votes to 198 no-votes. 

With the occasion of this bill, Polish Prime-Minister Donald Tusk has issued public apologies to same-sex couples in Poland for the “years of rejection and humiliation” they experienced from the Polish state in view of the current legislative changes, while Polish President Karol Nawrocki signaled that he will not be signing the bill because he considers it to be an alternative to traditional heterosexual marriages.

Aligning with the Polish president, more conservative legal experts consider the law to be an attempt to redefine marriage, arguing that the bill is an administrative revolution against the usual ways of the state.

Poland is, historically, a very religious country, with Catholicism being the dominant faith amongst the nation’s residents. Despite Catholicism’s traditionally conservative view of same-sex partnerships, some of the nation’s general opinion may have changed due to influence from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJUE) decisions, such as that of one issued in November 2025 in Case C-713/23 (Wojewoda Mazowiecki), which ruled European Union member states to recognize same-sex marriages on a consistent basis to decrease administrative issues. The Polish Supreme Administrative Court took the first step, in March 2026, by ordering Warsaw authorities to recognize a same-sex marriage performed in Germany, a decision that, alongside the CJUE’s ruling, paved the way for the recent legislative changes that favour the recognition of same-sex partnerships.

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Glossary

• Administrative - pertaining to administration; executive

• Bill - is a formal statement of a proposed new law that is discussed and then voted on.

• Court of Justice of the European Union - the supreme judicial body of the European Union

• Kin - relatives.

• Marriage - is the relationship between two people who are married.

• Same-Sex Partnership - a legal status that allows two people of the same sex to officially recognize their relationship and status as a couple

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References

1. https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7789/Artykul/3692973,poland-passes-law-giving-unmarried-couples-new-legal-rights-president-signals-veto#:~:text=29.05.2026%2013%3A45,formally%20acknowledging%20same%2Dsex%20partnerships.&text=Polish%20MPs%20voted%20230%20to,to%20198%2C%20with%20one%20abstention.

2. https://www.ncregister.com/cna/poland-to-register-same-sex-marriages-from-eu-countries#:~:text=Legal%20observers%20say%20the%20Polish,Article%2018%20of%20the%20constitution. 

3. https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/europe/european-union-imposes-recognition-of-homosexual-marriage-on-all-member-states 

4. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62023CJ0713