LGBT-free zone

Voivodeships, powiats, and gminas marked in red had passed anti-LGBT resolutions by January 2020.[1] Many anti-LGBT resolutions have since been repealed. An up-to-date map can be found here.[2]
Voivodeships, powiats, and gminas marked in red are LGBT-free zones as of October 2023.[3]

LGBT-free zones (Polish: Strefy wolne od ideologii LGBT, "Zones free from LGBT ideology")[4][5][6][7][8][9] were municipalities and regions of Poland that have declared themselves unwelcoming of LGBT rights,[10][11] in order to ban equality marches and other LGBT events.[4][12][13] By June 2020, some 100 municipalities (map)[2] and five voivodeships, encompassing a third of the country, had adopted resolutions which have been characterised as "LGBT-free zones".[14][15] On 6 February 2024, Warsaw Voivodship Administrative Court repealed the last "LGBT-free zone" in Poland.[16]

Most of the adopted resolutions were lobbied for by an ultra-conservative[17][18] Catholic organisation, Ordo Iuris.[19][20] While unenforceable and primarily symbolic, the declarations represent an attempt to stigmatise LGBT people.[21][22] The Economist considers the zones "a legally meaningless gimmick with the practical effect of declaring open season on gay people".[23] In a December 2020 report, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights stated that "Far from being merely words on paper, these declarations and charters directly impact the lives of LGBTI people in Poland."[24] Supporters argue that the zones defend traditional family values, while opponents argue that the zones undermine the rights of LGBT people.[25]

On 18 December 2019, the European Parliament voted, 463 to 107, to condemn the more than 80 such zones in Poland.[4][12][13] In September 2021, four of the voivodeships withdrew the measures, after the EU threatened to withhold funding.[26][27] Poland's Human Rights Ombudsman challenged several LGBT-free zone resolutions. In July 2020, the voivodeship administrative courts in Gliwice and Radom ruled that the "LGBT ideology free zones" established by the local authorities in Istebna and Klwów gminas respectively are null and void, stressing that they violate the constitution and are discriminatory against members of the LGBT community living in those counties.[28][29] In August and September of the same year, the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Lublin and Voivodeship Administrative Court in Kielce respectively issued similar judgements on LGBT-Free Zones.[30][31] Following appeal of the decisions, the Supreme Administrative Court would agree with the decisions of the four aforementioned courts in June 2022.[32][33][34][35][36][37]

Since July 2020, the European Union has denied funding from the Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund to municipalities that have adopted "LGBT-free" declarations, which are in violation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.[38] Poland is the only member state to have an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which it had signed upon its accession to the EU in 2004. In addition, several European sister cities have frozen their partnerships with the Polish municipalities in question.[39] Due to their violation of European law, including Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, these zones are considered part of the Polish rule-of-law crisis.[40]

  1. ^ Ciobanu, Claudia (25 February 2020). "A Third of Poland Declared 'LGBT-Free Zone'". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference euronewsAtlasOfHate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Atlas nienawiści (Atlas of Hate)". atlasnienawisci.pl. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "European Parliament slams 'LGBTI-free' zones in Poland". Deutsche Welle. 18 December 2019.
  5. ^ Hajdari, Una (31 December 2019). "The Demagogue's Cocktail of Victimhood and Strength". The Atlantic.
  6. ^ "Activist aims to shame Polish towns opposed to LGBT community". Reuters. 7 February 2020.
  7. ^ Maurice, Emma Powys (25 February 2020). "A third of Poland has now been declared an 'LGBT-free zone', making intolerance official". PinkNews.
  8. ^ "As It Happens: Activist fights homophobia in Poland with photo series of 'LGBT-free' zones". CBC Radio. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  9. ^ Assunção, Muri (25 July 2019). "Outrage over 'LGBTQ-free zone' stickers distributed by Polish magazine". New York Daily News.
  10. ^ "Deklaracja Nr 1/19 Sejmiku Województwa Małopolskiego z dnia 29 kwietnia 2019 r. w sprawie sprzeciwu wobec wprowadzenia ideologii "LGBT" do wspólnot samorządowych" [Declaration No. 1/19 of the Lesser Poland Regional Assembly of 29 April 2019 on opposition to the introduction of the "LGBT" ideology in local government communities]. Urząd Marszałkowski Województwa Lubelskiego w Lublinie [Marshal's Office of the Lublin Voivodeship in Lublin] (in Polish). Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b Hume, Tim (19 December 2019). "More Than 80 Polish Towns Have Declared Themselves 'LGBTQ-Free Zones'". Vice News.
  13. ^ a b Delaleu, Nicolas (18 December 2019). "Parliament strongly condemns "LGBTI-free zones" in Poland". European Parliament.
  14. ^ Ciobanu, Claudia (25 February 2020). "A Third of Poland Declared 'LGBT-Free Zone'". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  15. ^ Pronczuk, Monika (30 July 2020). "Polish Towns That Declared Themselves 'L.G.B.T. Free' Are Denied E.U. Funds". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Sąd uchylił ostatnią uchwałę przeciwko "ideologii LGBT"".
  17. ^ Kurasinska, Lidia (14 April 2020). "This Is War': The Story Behind Poland's Bid to Ban Abortion Today". Transitions Online. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Protests at Polish plan to exit convention against domestic violence". Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Samorządowa Karta Praw Rodzin". Ordo Iuris (in Polish). 2020.
  20. ^ "Uchwały anty-LGBT i inne dyskryminujące akty prawne" [Anti-LGBT resolutions and other discriminatory legal acts]. Google Docs (in Polish). 2020.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference CBC20190727 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference Telegraph20190809 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Charlemagne (21 November 2020). "Life beyond Europe's rainbow curtain". The Economist. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference December 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Stephenson, Minnie (5 March 2020). "Life inside Poland's "Gay-Free Zones"". Channel 4 News. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  26. ^ "Polish region withdraws anti-LGBT resolution amid EU funding threat". 22 September 2021.
  27. ^ "3 Polish Regions End 'LGBT-Free Zones' in Money Grabbing Effort". 29 September 2021.
  28. ^ "Sąd w Gliwicach unieważnił uchwałę o "strefie wolnej od LGBT" w gminie Istebna". Salon24 (in Polish). 14 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  29. ^ "WSA unieważnił uchwałę "anty-LGBT" Rady Gminy w Klwowie. Sąd: "W polskiej tradycji jest również tradycja tolerancji"". Wpolityce.pl (in Polish). 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  30. ^ "Judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Lublin, 6 August 2020, III SA/Lu 7/20". Central Database of decisions of Administrative Courts. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  31. ^ "Judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Kielce, 11 September 2020, II SA/Ke 382/20". Central Database of decisions of Administrative Courts. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  32. ^ "Polish court rules that four "LGBT-free zones" must be abolished". Reuters. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  33. ^ Ptak, Alicja (29 June 2022). "Polish top court upholds annulment of anti-LGBT resolutions". Notes from Poland. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  34. ^ "Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court, 28 June 2022, III OSK 4028/21". Central Database of decisions of Administrative Courts. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  35. ^ "Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court, 28 June 2022, III OSK 4240/21". Central Database of decisions of Administrative Courts. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  36. ^ "Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court, 28 June 2022, III OSK 3746/21". Central Database of decisions of Administrative Courts. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  37. ^ "Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court, 28 June 2022, III OSK 4041/21". Central Database of decisions of Administrative Courts. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  38. ^ Frater, James; Kolirin, Lianne (31 July 2020). "EU blocks funding for six towns that declared themselves 'LGBT-Free Zones'". CNN. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  39. ^ Wanat, Zosia (3 August 2020). "Polish towns pay a steep price for anti-LGBTQ views". Politico.
  40. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "European Parliament slams 'LGBTI-free' zones in Poland | DW | 18.12.2019". DW.COM. Retrieved 14 January 2021.