Poland: Majority of citizens opposed to same-sex marriage, survey shows

Warsaw, Poland – According to a survey conducted by the CBOS agency, a strong majority of Poles (66%) oppose same-sex marriage, up by 2 percentage points compared to two years ago.

Meanwhile, nearly a third of Polish citizens (29%) believe gay and lesbian couples should be able to marry.

Around a third of respondents (35%) are open to the idea of introducing civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples in Poland, compared to 60% who are against and 5% who don’t know.

The poll also found that a vast majority of Poland’s population (84%) is opposed to allowing same-sex couples to adopt children and believe they don’t have the right to show their way of life in public (67%).

While “CBOS research showed a slow increase in openness to gays and lesbians [over the past few years] the last survey indicates that this trend has stopped”, according to the pollsters.

Only 14% of respondents stated that “homosexuality is normal”, compared to 24% who believe that “homosexuality is not normal and must not be tolerated” and 54% of the opinion that “homosexuality is a deviation from the norm but it should be tolerated”.

“Significant changes are noted in the assessment of public display of lifestyle by homosexual couples”, increasing from 62% to 67% over the past two years, stressed the study.

The issue of LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage, has taken center stage in Poland in recent months and has been regularly targeted by the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party as a foreign important incompatible with Poland’s traditional values. Analysts have accused the Polish ruling party of fear-mongering to bolster its conservative electorate ahead of Sunday’s elections, using a similar rhetoric to the one used in 2015 against refugees and migrants.

According to the Rainbow Europe Index, Poland ranks as the single least tolerant country in the EU when it comes to the rights and situation of LGBT people.