The protest was led by LGBT activist Bart Staszewski, who accused the government of considering compliance only for a single couple rather than implementing the rulings systemically.
"Today the actions of this government mean ignoring Polish and European courts. This is acting against the rule of law", he said.
Staszewski called on Prime Minister Donald Tusk to act. "Why has the government done nothing for six months to implement the TSUE ruling on marriage transcription? Why should marriages concluded in Germany, Denmark, France or Spain go unrecognized in Poland?" he said from the stage. "We, the LGBT+ community, gave this government enormous trust. You have done nothing. You do not treat us as social partners".
He said the Interior Ministry was blocking progress by insisting legislative changes were needed, while the digital ministry and civil registry offices were already prepared to act.
"This is not procedure — this is sabotage", he said.
The Interior Ministry maintains that full implementation of EU court guidelines requires legislative changes. In early April, both the digitization and interior ministries said they were working on a regulatory amendment that would replace the terms "woman" and "man" on marriage certificates with "first spouse" and "second spouse", enabling transcription of same-sex marriages.
The case stems from a March ruling by Poland's Supreme Administrative Court concerning two Polish men who legally married in Berlin in 2018 and sought to have their marriage registered in Poland, only to be refused on the grounds that Polish law does not recognize same-sex unions.
The EU Court of Justice ruled in November 2025 that member states must recognize same-sex marriages legally concluded in other EU countries.
(jh)
Source: PAP