Photo: flickr.com/Guillaume Paumier
The survey by Ipsos pollsters found that a majority of Poles would support civil partnerships or some other kind of legal recognition of gay relationships as the ruling centre-right Civic Platform party struggles to come to a unified stance on the issue.
Poland has yet to pass legislation legalising civil partnerships, for instance.
The poll, taken in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and United States, found in general that 52 percent support full marriage equality in the 16 countries, and 21 percent support some form of legal recognition but not marriage.
Though a majority would accept legal recognition in Poland, the Roman Catholic country was among the countries where support was lowest for gay marriage and a majority were against allowing gay couples to adopt children.
The Ipsos opinion poll concludes that “support for same-sex marriage appears to be driven by demographic variables, knowing someone who is LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender), religion, social media and cultural differences”.
Just 36 percent in Poland supported the statement, “same-sex couples are just as likely as other parents to successfully raise children”.
“What is common to Hungary, South Korea and Poland is that by and large they are the countries that have the lowest percentage of people who report having a relative, a colleague, or a friend who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender,” Nicolas Boyon, Ipsos senior vice president, told the Reuters news agency which commissioned the poll.
The poll is published as the US Supreme Court is to rule on gay marriage this month and France’s recent decision to legalize same-sex unions and in the wake of Warsaw's 'Equality Parade' on Saturday. (pg)