Poland introduces cohabitation contracts for same-sex couples

Poland’s government approved a bill introducing “cohabitation contracts” for couples living together, providing a measure of legal recognition for same-sex unions in one of the European Union’s most restrictive countries for LGBT rights.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who assumed office in 2023 pledging to reverse arch-conservative policies criticized by Brussels for undermining democracy and minority rights, has faced obstacles in advancing reforms on abortion and LGBT issues, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

These efforts have met resistance from his conservative junior coalition partner PSL and veto threats from two successive presidents aligned with the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which lost power in the 2023 election.

“We are going to the parliament with a conciliation project for which we believe there is a majority in the lower and upper House,” Katarzyna Kotula, the government official overseeing equality issues, told reporters following a cabinet session.

The bill would allow two people, regardless of gender, to sign a cohabitation contract at a notary’s office. It covers housing rights, alimony, access to health information and health insurance, care leave, joint tax returns, and tax exemptions. However, it stops short of legalizing same-sex marriage, which remains banned.

Tusk’s pro-European government hopes that the limited scope of the bill will secure approval from nationalist President Karol Nawrocki. While LGBT groups expressed frustration at the measure’s narrow reach, they acknowledged it may be the only proposal with a realistic chance of passing in parliament.

Despite growing public support for legal recognition of same-sex couples, Poland remains a predominantly Catholic country and among the EU’s most restrictive states on LGBT rights.

By Vafa Guliyeva