Poland Bars Gay People From Adopting

Poland is doubling down on its anti-gay policies despite pushback from the European Union. The government said Thursday that it would close a loophole and ensure that no gay people will be allowed to adopt a child, reports Reuters. Current Polish law prohibits gay couples from adopting, but some homosexuals had gotten around the restriction by adopting as single people. From now on, background checks will be conducted on singles looking to adopt to make sure they're not in a same-sex relationship, per the BBC. Those who are while trying to adopt could face criminal charges. It's not clear what the background checks will entail, but anyone living with a member of the same sex would raise a red flag.

“It’s about a child’s safety, about its well-being,” says Deputy Justice Minister Michael Wojcik. To which LGBTQ activist Bartosz Staszewski responded, “You really have to be a mean human being to deny children a home, whether that would be in a same-sex or heterosexual couple." The nation is heavily Roman Catholic, and various cities have declared themselves "LGBT ideology-free zones," notes the BBC. In response, the EU on Thursday declared the entirety of the union to be an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone," with the "i" adding "intersex" to the usual acronym. The resolution states that LGBTIQ people should be able to live everywhere within the EU "without fear of intolerance, discrimination or persecution." (More Poland stories.)