Wrocław Recognizes Same-Sex Marriage for the First Time

Wrocław has registered a foreign marriage certificate of a same-sex couple in the Polish civil registry for the first time. Tomasz Kwietko-Bębnowski and Ryszard Ziobro have been together for almost half a century. In August 2025, they got married in Vienna.

After returning to Poland, the couple filed an application with the local civil registry office to have their Austrian marriage certificate transcribed into the Polish registry. On May 18, 2026, they received a document confirming the recognition of their marriage in Poland.

“We are officially registered as husband and husband. We are very happy about it,” the spouses said.

Wrocław became the second Polish city after Warsaw to recognize a same-sex marriage concluded abroad, and the first to do so without a court order.

This became possible due to a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. In November 2025, the court ruled that EU countries must recognize same-sex marriages concluded in other EU member states, even if local laws prohibit such marriages. However, the decision does not oblige Poland to legalize same-sex marriages on its own territory.

Similar cases are being considered in other Polish cities. In April 2026, an administrative court in Lublin ordered the local civil registry office to transcribe the marriage certificate of two women married in Portugal.

Recognizing the marriage grants same-sex couples the same rights as other Polish citizens: the right to medical information, inheritance, and the refusal to testify against a partner in court. Concluding a same-sex marriage within the country is still not possible.