A court in Poland ruled recently that a local civil registry was required to record the marriage of a gay couple married outside of the country. The Polish couple who brought the case to the Polish Supreme Administrative Court were married in Berlin, Germany in 2018, and sought to have their union recognized in their country of origin. The court ruled that though Poland had to recognize the union, they were not technically required to change their policies on same-sex marriage domestically.
Poland has historically pushed back against LGBTQ+ rights unlike its more friendly European neighbors. According to Equaldex, the country offers no protections against hate crimes and housing discrimination for the queer community, requires a medical diagnosis for gender changes, and does not recognize non-binary identifying people, among other shortcomings. However, Equaldex also indicates that support for LGBTQ+ folks in Poland still slightly outweighs opposition, as 51% of respondents stand for queer rights and protections and 20% are opposed.
The court’s decision follows a November ruling from the European Court of Justice that all E.U. member states were required to recognize lawful same-sex marriages performed in other member states. The Polish court ordered that the German marriage certificate be transcribed into the Polish system to allow for a de facto recognition of the union.
Hubert Sobecki from Love Doesn’t Exclude, a LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit says “This is the best path to real change today.” For years Poland has made headlines as its draconian laws have gone as far as to create ‘LGBT-free’ zones throughout the country. These zones forced any LGBTQ+ residents to hide their identities in public and discouraged discussions of and education on queer identities in public. Though the zones have since been abolished, they only disappeared completely in spring of 2025, according to Human Rights Watch.
‘The spouses in question, as E.U. citizens, enjoy the freedom to move and reside within the territory of the member states and the right to lead a normal family life when exercising that freedom and upon returning to their member state of origin,” the court said in its ruling.
Currently, 18 of 27 countries in the E.U. recognize same-sex marriages.
