Being One Of The Most Catholic Countries In Europe, Poland Bans LGBT Adopting Children

LGBT illustration. (Margaux Bellott / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Polish authorities prohibit same-sex couples from adopting children, even as single parents. This is based on a new law announced on Thursday, March 11 by the Nationalist Party.

Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) is known to make anti-gay policies a major part of its governmental platform. The party says gay rights are a threat to traditional lifestyles in one of Europe's most Catholic countries

The announcement is likely to intensify clashes between Poland and the European Union over LGBT rights. The European Union wants all member states to respect LGBT rights. The reason for Poland, LGBT is a threat to Roman Catholic culture and domestic problems, considering that Poland is one of the 'most' Catholic countries in Europe.

The Polish government announced its plans for an adoption ban, hours before lawmakers in European parliaments adopted a gay rights resolution, seen as an outright rebuke to Poland's latest policy.

Poland already allows only couples of the opposite sex or single people to adopt children. The changes announced on Thursday will require authorities to check on single people who wish to adopt, and bar them if they live together with someone of the same gender.

“We are preparing for a change where people living together with same-sex cannot adopt children. So that homosexual couples cannot adopt children”, said Deputy Minister of Justice Michal Wojcik.

Wojcik said the action aimed to protect children.

"It's about child safety, about welfare", he said.

LGBT rights activists say they object to the new provisions limiting the adoption of children by gays.

“You really have to be a cruel human being to deny a home to children, whether in same-sex or heterosexual couples. Children have the right to a home”, said activist Bartosz Staszewski.

The restraints on gay rights that Poland and Hungary have in place are part of the problem with the European Union, where they are also at odds over the independence of the media, courts, NGOs, and academics.

Over the past two years, more than 100 cities and territories in Poland have declared themselves 'LGBT-free zones'. The European Union has responded by threatening to withhold some European funding for these cities. Meanwhile, the Polish government offered replacement funds.

For information, the European Parliament through a resolution approved LGBTIQ rights as human rights, declaring all regions of the European Union as LGBTIQ freedom zones.