Valruzia

[Aethan]

Same-sex civil law approved by Sejm

A comfortable majority supports the bill negotiated by the government and the PKW on the verge of the ultimatum

December 5632

President Karolina Pietrzyk (middle) celebrating outside the Sejm the approval of the same-sex civil unions law

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On the verge of meeting the ultimatum and in record time, the coalition government and the KPW have managed to reach an agreement to pass in the Valruzian parliament the law that will regulate civil unions for same-sex couples, equating them in rights to heterosexual unions, both at the administrative level and at other levels such as adoption and parental rights.

“What we have achieved today is one more step towards real equality for all our citizens”

said PKW Secretary General Tobiasz Bernas

”And this is thanks to the insistence of the PKW, without which this coalition government would not have considered it necessary to legislate on this issue.”

The law presented by the government, which has managed to get through the Sejm with 326 votes in favor (135 of 161 Sovereign Valruzia deputies, all 130 PKW deputies, the 57 Dignity and Progress deputies and 4 Liberal Alliance deputies), 39 abstentions (the remaining Sovereign Valruzia and Liberal Alliance deputies and the 8 Agrarian Voice deputies) and 236 votes against, has generated a heated debate in parliament, with most conservative parties criticizing Sovereign Valruzia's and Chancellor Szymon Nowik's shift from “not considering it a priority” to “approving it for pure political survival”.

“This law has only been brought to parliament to please the communists so that they would not bring down Mr. Nowik's government. Mr. Nowik himself declared when he was elected Chancellor that he did not consider that legalizing same-sex unions should be a priority for the first government after Szczepan Morawski's regime, and yet now we have him presenting and supporting a law only because the communists threatened to bring down his government if they did not present it. With what moral authority does Mr. Nowik present himself now?

said the leader of Valruzian Alliance, Tymon Szweda.

For his part, Szymon Nowik has justified his turn by stating that:

“To those who accuse this government of giving in to pressure, I say: governing is listening. We listen to those who have been asking for equality for decades, to young people who demand a future without exclusions, even to our political partners when their demands are just. Is that weakness? No. It is the essence of Sovereign Valruzia: transforming dialogue into progress. There are times when a ruler must put justice before political calculations. Today we close a long-bleeding wound in our society,”

he declared in a grave voice, avoiding mentioning the PKW pressures that forced the vote.

Political analysts point out that this turn could cost Nowik dearly within his own party, where deputies from more conservative areas have already called an emergency meeting. “They betrayed their base,” accused the mayor of the small town of Podlasie, where protests have been called for this Wednesday.

While LGTBI collectives are preparing celebrations in major cities, opposition forces have been quick to react, with Valruzian Alliance announcing that it will file a constitutional challenge with the Valruzian Supreme Court. On the streets of Nowogard, reactions are mostly positive. “We are finally equal before the law,” celebrated Adam, a young teacher who has been with his partner for 8 years. According to the latest polls, 91% of Valruzians believed gay and bisexual people should enjoy the same rights as heterosexual people, and 79% supported same-sex marriage.

Kazimierz Łukasik, a Sovereign Valruzia MP who abstained, told reporters:

“I would not recognize my own party. We have gone from governing for working Valruzia to legislating for urban minorities - what will we say to our voters in rural regions?”

However, the progressive wing of the party, through the voice of Minister of Labor, Equality and Social Rights Zofia Starzyńska, came out swinging:

“If being conservative means denying rights, then we are not conservative. Sovereign Valruzia has always stood for stability and justice, and this law is justice at its purest. Sovereign Valruzia is not a conservative party, we are Valruzianists, with all the good and all the bad of it.”

Among the most important aspects of the law, the following stand out:

-Automatic recognition of inheritance and tax rights for same-sex couples.
-Access to joint adoption without additional restrictions to those applied to heterosexual couples.
-Protection against discrimination in labor and health areas.

However, some LGBT activists are calling for a same-sex marriage law to be approved.

"This is a first, that's for sure, but we cannot stop here. We want to enjoy exactly the same rights that other citizens in our nation already have. Why is that so difficult to understand?"

The new leader of National Renewal and leader of the opposition, Ksenia Brosz, has said that while all Valruzian citizens deserve the same respect, this law was aimed just at satisfying the demands of the "far-left communists" rather than thinking about the well-being of Valruzians. "In the end, Chancellor Nowik has shown that his principles can change with the wind, all because he wants to take advantage of the law".
Szymon Nowik has slammed back at those accusing him of pursuing the approval of this law for his own benefit in order to marry his long-time partner Mateusz Gawryś, saying it is a "low blow" to use his own sexuality against him with every political decision he takes as leader of the Valruzian government and claiming that politics is also "having changes of mind".

"I'd like to see two things in this parliament: first of all, respect for my personal life and a halt in all of you attempting to use my own sexuality and my own preferences as a justification for every single political decision that my government and myself personally take; and second of all, I would like to see absolutely none of you budge one iota from the things you stand for. It's called flexibility, something necessary in any democratic country to reach agreements that improve people's lives”.

Another important cornerstone approved as a side law negotiated between the government and the PKW is the one that will wipe clean the criminal records of thousands of gay and bisexual men and women who were jailed during Morawski's regime, with the sentences given out for homosexuality and bisexuality being taken off police files.

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New Years Eve 5632 electoral polling

SW: 28%
KPW: 22%
ON: 13%
SWA: 13%
GA: 10%
GiP: 5%
NZ: 1%
LS: 1%