Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk has promised that if his centrist party is elected, he will introduce several measures to improve the lives of the country’s LGBTQ+ community. During a meeting in the northwest town of Pia, Tusk said that his party has two bills prepared that would benefit LGBTQ+ Poles – one to make it easier for trans people in Poland to self-identify and a second to legally recognize same-sex civil partnerships. The Civic Platform (PO) leader’s declaration came after a secondary school senior asked the opposition leader: “What future do you intend to build with your party and coalition partners for people who identify with the acronym LGBT?” The student added that Poland’s current government dehumanizes the community. Tusk acknowledged the query, calling it one of the most dramatic inquiries he frequently hears from young people, before stating that the LGBTQ+ people in Poland are a victimized minority. The existing ad-hoc system requires trans people to sue their own parents in order to change their legally-acknowledged gender because there is no legislation outlining a precise road for gender recognition. When Tusk’s PO party was in power in 2015, Poland’s parliament approved a bill to establish a legal process for gender recognition. It was vetoed by conservative president Andrzej Duda, a PiS supporter.
