Poland has started recognizing same-sex marriages. But there's a catch...

Civil registry offices across Poland began legally recognizing same-sex marriages from other countries as of yesterday, TVP World reported. However, Poland itself has not legalized same-sex marriages within its own borders.

The country was compelled to start recognizing foreign same-sex marriages after legal rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) in favor of a male same-sex couple (one of whom was Polish) who weren’t allowed to have their 2018 German marriage certificate entered into the Polish civil registry.

The men challenged the denial at the NSA, which then referred the case to the CJEU. The CJEU ruled in November 2025 that the couple’s marriage was valid throughout the European Union’s 27-member bloc, and that Poland could recognize their union without also altering its laws to start offering same-sex marriages.

Then, last March, the NSA ordered the government to transcribe the men’s same-sex marriage certificate into the Polish system, resulting in de facto government recognition of a same-sex couple’s marriage in the country; a historic first for Poland.

“Starting [on Sunday, August 30, 2026], the Polish state will better protect the dignity and rights of its citizens,” Deputy Prime Minister and left-wing Member of Parliament Krzysztof Gawkowski wrote online. “This marks the end of the administrative fiction and uncertainty that Polish families have faced for years. This is the end of the temporary practice of entering women as men or men as women in certificates. This is an important step toward a Poland in which equality is not an empty word, but a principle of state action.”

Last May, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk apologized for the “years of rejection and humiliation” that same-sex couples have experienced due to Poland not legally recognizing their marriages, Notes from Poland reported.

“[This is] a matter of human dignity: the right to happiness, the right to equal treatment by the state,” Tusk said. “I would like to apologize to all those who, for many, many years, felt rejected and humiliated. For many years, the [Polish] state has failed the test.”

Tusk also said that Poland “lacks statutory regulations” that would ensure that same-sex couples receive the same legal and social protections as different-sex couples.

However, he said, “We have committed to – and I will personally ensure this – abiding by the rulings as a priority,” adding that any changes must be conducted in compliance with existing Polish law. He also urged government members “to respect the dignity of every human being” while figuring out and implementing new policies, some of which may require parliamentary or executive approval.

Tusk also said any legal recognition is “no way a path to the possibility of adoption.”

Last July, Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed two bills that would have extended recognition to same-sex couples. The bills would have created “cohabitation contracts,” according to Reuters, which would have given some legal recognition to same-sex couples when it comes to medical information, property rights, and funeral arrangements.

Nawrocki, though, ran as an independent in 2025 after having been chosen as the candidate for the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, moving the country to the right. He said that the cohabitation contracts were too similar to marriage.

LGBTQ+ rights advocates denounced the vetoes. The organization Campaign Against Homophobia said that the bills were “merely a fragment” of what they wanted to get when it comes to domestic partnership rights in the country.

“Today’s veto of the bill, however, shows that even the absolute minimum of rights the bill was intended to provide is too much for the president,” the group said.

Former Equality Minister and New Left Member of Parliament Katarzyna Kotula said Nawroicki “turned his back on 2 million people living today in informal relationships.”

So far, 18 countries in the EU offer legalized same-sex marriages, though all member countries are required to legally recognize them, even if they don’t offer them to their own citizens.

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Originally published here.