During the election campaign he called LGBTQ+ rights a “foreign ideology.”
Polish president Andrzej Duda has proposed a constitutional ban on same-sex couples adopting children and plans to introduce this in an amendment on Monday (6 July).
During a meeting in Szczawno-Zdrój, in the south of the country, Notes from Poland reports the president as saying: “The Polish constitution should explicitly state that the adoption of a child by a person in a same-sex relationship is excluded.
“On Monday I will sign a presidential draft amendment to the constitution [to that effect].”
He added that he believed constitutionally banning same-sex couples from adopting would permanently end political discussions around the subject, as there would be “no need to discuss” it anymore.
At a rally earlier this week, Duda described same-sex couples adopting as a form of “experimentation” and “enslavement.”
Duda’s proposed amendment will be made in the lower house, the Sejm, and he believes that he will get the two-thirds majority needed to make the constitutional change from votes of his own ruling Law and Justice Party, the far-right Confederation, as well as votes from the Polish People’s Party and the Civic Coalition.
On the back of Duda’s announcement, his run-off rival, the more liberal Rafał Trzaskowski, says he “agrees with the president in this matter,” adding that he’s “against the adoption of children by same-sex couples, and it seems to me that this is the position of most political parties.”
During his campaign, Duda has tapped into rising homophobic sentiment in Poland, with only 9% of Poles backing same-sex couples adopting children, and 29% in favour of same-sex marriage.
The president said he wouldn’t allow same-sex couples to adopt or marry if he was re-elected and signed a declaration – called The Family Card – that would also ban LGBTQ+ lessons in schools to protect children from so-called “LGBT ideology.”
“Parents are responsible for the sexual education of their children. It is not possible for any institutions to interfere in the way parents raise their children,” Duda told a gathering of his loyal supporters.
“It’s a foreign ideology. There is no consent for this phenomenon to happen in our country in any way,” he continued of same-sex marriage and adoption, adding that LGBTQ+ rights seek to “penetrate into our reality, sometimes by force.”
Last year, a third of Poland declared themselves an “LGBT-free zone” that is “free from LGBT ideology.”
Local authorities pledged to refrain from actions that could be seen as tolerant of the LGBTQ+ community, and prevent financial aid to NGOs helping to promote equal rights. The European Parliament passed a motion condemning the country.
The motion noted how most of the 80 regions “discriminate in particular against single-parent and LGBTI families”.
They said it was “a broader context of attacks against the LGBTI community in Poland, which include growing hate speech by public and elected officials and public media, as well as attacks and bans on Pride marches and actions.”
The motion then called on Poland to “firmly condemn discrimination against LGBTI people and to revoke resolutions attacking LGBTI rights, including local provisions against ‘LGBT ideology.’”
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