Thursday, February 14, 2013

GLBT Rights Mostly Out Of Reach In Eastern Europe

February 10, 2013:  Ania and Yga have been inseparable for the last 17 years, living together as a couple in the Polish capital Warsaw but their love is seen as second class in this deeply Roman Catholic country. As Britain and France legalise gay marriage, in January Polish lawmakers voted down three bills on civil unions for unmarried couples whether gay or straight. With the Polish constitution defining marriage as a relationship between a man and woman, the drafts did not include the right for gays to marry or adopt. In July, parliament rejected four similar draft laws. The conservative Polish scenario is repeated elsewhere in the region where homophobia is still an issue, except for the overwhelmingly secular Czech Republic, which allows gay couples legal rights within civil unions. "It's humiliating when I fill out official documents as Yga's partner and bureaucrats cross out the word 'partner' and replace it with...'other'," Ania Zawadzka told AFP. Although the situation won't change overnight in Poland, one of Europe's most religious and conservative countries, a recent survey suggests acceptance of civil unions for lesbians and gays is slowly on the rise. While 69 percent of Poles opposed gay marriage and adoption in a February survey, a majority 55 said they backed civil unions for both gay and straight couples. For Robert Biedron, Poland's only openly gay member of parliament, it's an encouraging sign. "We will continue to submit bills on civil unions until one of them is accepted because we want to live in an egalitarian society, without exclusion or discrimination," Biedron, an MP with the anti-clerical Palikot Movement, told AFP recently. "I can't imagine a Poland in which civil unions won't be recognised," he added. Having entered parliament for the first time in 2011, the Palikot Movement is part of a new wave on the left-wing of Poland's political scene, until now dominated by ex-communists. Read more here, and stay tuned to Ekta Transglobal for GLBT-rights news.
[PHOTO: People hold a giant rainbow flag as they take part in a gay pride parade in Warsaw on June 2, 2012. (AFP)]

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