Polish Sejm votes on a motion of confidence in government. (Photo credit: Kancelaria Premiera)
Last week, the Sejm, the lower house of parliament in Poland (think: House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress) voted to scrap three bills that would give limited legal recognitions and rights to unmarried couples, including same-sex ones.
The chamber voted to prevent the bills from going to committee for refinement and consideration – and on one, it did so narrowly: 228 supported the block and 211 voted against it.
The parties of the left, including the social democratic Alliance of the Democratic Left (SLD) and the liberal-libertarian and anti-clerical Palikot’s Movement (RP) voted as one against the motion. Most of the ruling center-right Civic Platform (PO), which introduced one of the bills in the first place, also voted against blocking further progress.
But social conservatism asserted itself and won the day, if narrowly. It was expected that the agrarian Polish People’s Party (PSL) would oppose such social reforms. Nor was it a surprise when Law and Justice (PiS), PO’s bitter rival quite a bit to the right of it, and the PiS splinter United Poland (SP) opposed the package. But it was killed, at least this time around, with the help of 46 PO deputies.
The thing is, PiS and PO were not that much different until the bitterly-contested back-to-back parliamentary and presidential elections in 2005. There was even talk of a PO-PiS coalition which would have a massive supermajority due to the virtual collapse of the scandal-ridden SLD with no other viable left-wing party. But personality clashes helped prevent such an alliance and now, PiS is kind of like PO’s more ornery and far more conservative cousin, dabbling occasionally in rambunctious conspiracy theories and dalliances with the far-right.
Compared to PiS, PO looks very much like a socially liberal group itself. But while the amount of support among PO parliamentarians for at least considering same-sex is substantial, this vote also revealed that there remains a potent conservative wing in the party. And it might be tough to convince the 46 to change their minds next time.
Compounding the issue of gay rights and marriage equality in Poland is the fact that the Polish Constitution directly spells out the protection of marriage “between a man and a woman,” and it is no simple task to amend the document. Social conservatism, rooted in and promoted by a still-influential Catholic Church, also makes it a tough job as far as the culture goes.
Thus, Poland has a long way to go before it catches up on the issue of gay rights and institutional equality – including marriage – with much of western Europe. And, with several states already permitting it, you could even say the U.S. is ahead of Poland. But keep in mind that even France is only now putting a marriage equality bill forth in its National Assembly. So Poland is not necessarily too far behind the curve.
But this gives reason for tempered hope. Poland had already recognized, briefly, the right of gay and lesbian couples to register as civil partners. So it’s already stumbled upon a path toward equality. Now, it’s clear that there can be reasonable possibility of a change in the country’s dealings with its own LGBTQ community.
It will take a while. But the debate is rising up.
