Poland’s staunchly anti-LGBT+ President Andrzej Duda has vowed to ban same-sex couples from adopting children.
Duda, who has expressed his opposition to LGBT+ rights on numerous occasions in recent weeks, made the comments at a campaign rally in southern Poland today (July 4).
Speaking at the campaign event, Duda said he will put forward an amendment to Poland’s constitution that would ban same-sex couples from adopting children on Monday.
“The Polish constitution should include an entry saying that it is forbidden to adopt a child by a person who lives in a single-sex relationship,” Duda said, according to PolandIn.
President of Poland Andrzej Duda said he will ban same-sex adoption in the name of ‘child protection’.
“On Monday, I will sign a document with a presidential draft of the amendment to the constitution.
“A child should be particularly protected, the current entries in the constitution say that, but – in this aspect – they should be refined.
“Children that are deprived of parental authority need special protection.”
The Polish president claimed that the amendment will be “an important element of child protection” and said he believes it will receive cross-party support.
The Polish constitution should include an entry saying that it is forbidden to adopt a child by a person who lives in a single-sex relationship.
He went on to claim that the ban should be introduced “because this is the state’s responsibility who this child is entrusted to be raised”.
The news will come as a devastating blow to many queer couples in Poland who were considering starting a family – but it will hardly come as a surprise.
Duda has made his opposition to LGBT+ rights clear in recent weeks. Last month, he pledged to ban LGBT+ inclusive education in schools and said he would block any legislation on same-sex marriage and adoption.
“Parents are responsible for the sexual education of their children,” Reuters reported him saying. “It is not possible for any institutions to interfere in the way parents raise their children.”
He insisted that LGBT+ identities are a “foreign ideology” and said he would stop the “phenomenon” from taking root in Poland.
The president has hinged his re-election campaign on his opposition to LGBT+ rights.
Duda is currently fighting to be re-elected as president of Poland. On June 29, it was announced that he had taken a commanding lead in the first round with 8,412,183 votes (43.7 per cent), significantly more than his opponent Rafał Trzaskowski, who received 5,845,164 votes (30.34 per cent).
However, as no candidate received more than 50 per cent of the vote, a run-off will now be held between Duda and Trzaskowski on July 12 — with the gap between the pair narrowing significantly with other candidates eliminated.
The Polish president, who is backed by the ruling nationalist Law and Justice Party, has hinged his re-election campaign on opposition to LGBT+ rights in an effort to tap into rising homophobic sentiment in Poland.