Poland announced a new law Thursday which prohibited same-sex couples from adopting children, but the European Union responded by passing a resolution declaring the union an “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone,” Reuters reported.
The new law would require Polish officials to conduct background checks on applicants seeking to adopt as a single parent, BBC reported. The law would also prohibit any same sex couples that live together from adopting children. (RELATED: Polish Government Might Prosecute People Who Fly LGBT White Eagle Flag For Desecrating A National Symbol)
“We are preparing a change where (…) people living in cohabitation with a person of the same sex could not adopt a child, so a homosexual couple will not be able to adopt a child,” said Deputy Justice Minister Michal Wojcik.
Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, won a second term in 2020 with a platform that declared LGBT rights an ideological threat more dangerous than communism, the AP reported at the time.
“It’s about a child’s safety, about its wellbeing,” Wojcik said, according to Reuters.
European Parliament declared whole #EU as ‘LGBT freedom zone’ as an opposition to #Poland‘s ‘LGBT-free zones’ and proposed adoption ban. #LGBTIQFreedomZone pic.twitter.com/KA4OQZozyD
— The World News Journal (@wnewsjournal) March 11, 2021
The European Parliament officially declared the entire European Union an “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone,” hours after the Poland announced their law, BBC reported. The European Parliament’s resolution passed with a tally of 492 to 141. “LGBTIQ rights are human rights,” the resolution said.
LGBT supporters argued Poland’s law would hurt children by limiting those who could adopt.
“You really have to be a mean human being to deny children a home, whether that would be in a same-sex or heterosexual couple. Children deserve a home,” activist Bartosz Staszewski told Reuters.