Ruling party divided over civil partnerships bill

The original bill was submitted by the opposition Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) on 17 May, and Prime Minister Tusk said yesterday that it will be “one of the first” items to be addressed in the next term of parliament, adding that he is “ready to discuss civil partnerships.”

However, some of the more conservative members of Tusk's centre-right party have made unequivocal responses to the prime minister's remark.

“I will certainly not put my hand up in support of such a bill,” affirmed MP (Krakow) Jaroslaw Gowin in an interview with the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

“An act on civil partnerships through the back door would pave the way for homosexual marriages,” he said, adding that “the whole project is not really for the welfare of specific individuals, but for a social revolution, a departure from traditional morality.”

Vice speaker parliament, Stefan Niesiolowski, was swift to back up Gowin in an interview on Radio ZET this morning.

“He's right,” Niesiolowski declared. “What it's ultimately about is of course the adoption of children and the promotion of an obtrusive propaganda – a very aggressive kind of homosexuality.”

According to a recent poll, 54 percent of Poles supported the idea of civil partnerships in Poland.

“It's possible that I'm in the minority,” Gowin acknowleged.

The draft bill covers such matters as the right to communal property, joint taxation and inheritance following the death of a partner. (nh)