Equality Minister Katarzyna Kotula told PAP before the consultations began that PSL should see the civil partnerships bill as a government project, with an aim to present it to the Sejm in the spring. She described the issue as still evolving through a consultative phase, noting that participants would include equality and human rights organizations.
During the interview, Kotula reaffirmed that the left’s bill, crafted in collaboration with the organization “Miłość nie wylejmy” during Robert Biedroń’s presidential campaign, would be tabled as a key starting point for discussions with various organizations, alongside a revival of Nowoczesna’s proposal. She underscored that those conversations would help shape the path forward.
She also indicated that a political decision would later determine whether the initiative becomes a government or a parliamentary project.
Expressing a preference for a government-led initiative, Kotula said she would working to secure PSL’s involvement in the process through partnerships, addressing doubts expressed by some within the People’s Party about the proposal.
When asked about timing, Kotula stated her aspiration to submit the bill in the spring. She explained that a Parliamentary Bill would move faster, while a Government Bill would take longer, but her goal remained to have the measure tabled in the spring so that a political decision could be made thereafter. The exact processing timeline would depend on the Marshal of the Sejm.
She confirmed having opened discussions with the Ministry of Justice about incorporating hate speech tied to gender or sexual orientation into the Criminal Code, stressing that this proposal would mark a first within the legislative package.
In December, Prime Minister Donald Tusk had said the civil partnerships project would be addressed during “this winter,” signaling coordinated movement within the government’s broader coalition agenda.
After consultations with coalition leaders on October 15, a decision would be reached on whether the legislative initiative would be government- or parliament-led.
The left-wing proposal on partnerships, initially submitted during Robert Biedroń’s 2020 presidential campaign, described a partnership as a formalized relationship between two people based on the partners’ will, irrespective of gender, psychosexual or gender identity. It envisioned registration with a civil registry, possibly accompanied by a solemn ceremony, and allowed for sharing a surname, access to a partner’s housing, and the right to adopt the partner’s child in the first degree of kinship as part of enabling familial ties.
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The discussion around civil partnerships remains a live matter in Poland, with multiple political forces weighing how best to balance civil rights with constitutional definitions and broader social values.