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On September 27, three Polish regions revoked resolutions of LGBT-free zones after the European Union threatened to pull funding. The resolutions had first been passed in 2019, with local authorities viewing campaigns for gay rights as an attack on “traditional” family and Catholic values.
Nearly a third of the country declared themselves LGBT-free zones which sparked conflict between liberals and religious conservatives. Officials in the southeastern Podkarpackie and Lubelskie provinces and in the southern Malopolskie province, three of almost a hundred provinces that adopted motions declaring themselves free of “LGBT ideology,” voted to repeal them.
LGBT-free zones in Poland
LGBT-free zones or LGBT ideology-free zones are regions that have declared themselves unwelcoming of an alleged “LGBT ideology” in order to ban LGBT events in Poland. Most of the adopted resolutions were petitioned by Catholic organisations.
In February 2019, Warsaw’s mayor Rafał Trzaskowski signed a declaration supporting LGBTQ rights, and announced his intention to follow World Health Organization guidelines and integrate LGBT issues into the Warsaw school system sex education curriculum. Law and Justice (PiS) politicians objected to the program, saying it would sexualize children. PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński also responded to the declaration, calling LGBT rights “an import” that threatens Poland.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the declaration “enraged and galvanized” conservative politicians and conservative media in Poland, the “LGBT-free zone” declarations emerging as a reaction to the Warsaw declaration.
Moving Forward
In Podkarpackie, a new resolution entitled “Podkarpackie as a region of well-established tolerance” was passed. In Lubelskie, officials passed a motion entitled “On the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms”. These new resolutions continue to face backlash from conservative Catholic groups. However, while there is still a long way to go and many more challenges to face, the European Union is taking steps to make the world a more inclusive place for LGBTQ people.
