Originally published in IR Insider in March 2020 (IR Insider page archived)
LGBT-free stickers distributed by far-right newspaper Gazeta Polska. Photo. Source: Pink News.
A third of Poland became ‘LGBT Free’ this week, continuing a movement initiated by self-declared ‘pro-family’ politicians from the Law and Justice (PiS) party in February last year. Municipal governments of more than 80 towns have adopted anti-LGBTQ+ measures and a sixth voivodeship (province) is under threat of the same, as it continues to debate the matter, although voting has been postponed from Monday, Mar. 2 till further notice.
Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczyński began spreading hate speech -- using rhetoric like “Hands off our children!” -- to generate supposedly ‘morality-based’ opposition against members of the aforementioned community in response to an “LGBT Charter” proposed by newly-elected mayor of Warsaw, Civic Coalition politician Rafal Trzaskowski. This discriminatory rhetoric, claiming that the LGBT Charter was “offending religious beliefs,” particularly took-off in the southeast. The ‘Pro-Polish values’ movement coordinated heavily with international conservative groups in its efforts, the irony of which was reported in a 2018 BIRN investigation.
Last July, far-right Polish newspaper Gazeta Polska started distributing “LGBT-free zone” stickers, and on being ordered to stop by the Warsaw district court, the paper re-worded the stickers, now labelled “LGBT Ideology-Free Zone,” and proceeded to claim the court order was “fake news.” Aggressive action, including a prohibition of pride marches, plague the smaller cities in Poland.
The European Commissioner for Equality at the EU, Helena Dalli, has been widely quoted expressing support for the LGBTQ+ community, stating, “we cannot allow … the adoption of anti-LGBTI resolutions and not feel responsible for the next phase.” Polish activists Pawel Preneta, Paulina Pajak, and Jakub Gawro also created an ‘Atlas of Hate’: an interactive map to lobby in favor of the resolution passed by the European Commission condemning the ‘LGBT-free’ zones last winter.
Given that the Polish government receives extensive support from the EU, especially financially, this condemnation will hopefully work to reduce discrimintion based on sexual orientation in the near future. The laws adopted by almost a hundred Polish municipalities violate basic human rights, including that on which democracy rests: the right to equal treatment. Therefore, no matter how unenforceable the declaration of LGBT-free zones are, the sentiment behind it can alter the course of communal mentalities, which must be prevented.
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