Concerns for the LGBT+ community and their fundamental human rights

Concerns for the LGBT+ community and their fundamental human rights

Poland has been recently listed as the worst country in the European Union for LGBT+ people to live in by the annual “Rainbow Map” produced by ILGA-Europe, an organisation advocating for the rights of LGBT+ members. It ranks 27 out of 28 EU’s Member States concerning non-discrimination and equality, according to ILGA-Europe. However, when it comes to same-sex marriages, it remains divided.[1]

 

 Image source: https://www.rainbow-europe.org/country-ranking#eu

 

Since 2019, the situation of the LGBT+ community in Poland has consistently been precarious. The governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) has taken actions against LGBT+ community members in the main cities of Poland. PiS stressed in their campaigns that ‘Poland must defend children and normal families from the imported LGBT+ movement’.[2] 

The re-elected Polish president and politician of PiS Andrzej Duda actively deployed anti-LGBT+ rhetoric in his election strategy. He referred to LGBT+ as an ‘ideology’, claiming that it ‘threatens our identity, our nation, its continued existence, and therefore the Polish state’.[3] A third of Poland is now declared ‘LGBT-free zones’, prohibiting equality marches and other LGBT+ events. 

One may ask how can Polish LGBT+ members live in a society that limits their identity? How can someone live in a country where being yourself is something publicly wrong or even prohibited?

 

Image source: https://time.com/5619660/lgbt-rights-poland/ 

Challenges faced by LGBT+ members in Poland

The current president has triggered many outraged protests with his anti-LGBT+ rhetoric throughout his mandate.[4] For instance, during one of his presidential campaigns in June 2020, Andrzej Duda commented that the LGBT+ members are not people. He pledged to ‘ban the propagation of LGBT+ ideology in public institutions and oppose same-sex marriages and adoption’.[5] Following the presidential campaign, pro-LGBT+ protesters were detained and charged on petty issues, such as putting rainbow flags on statues.[6] They were publicly insulted and humiliated.

LGBT+ individuals are frequently bullied at work, at school, or when they seek medical help.[7] In Poland, many healthcare professionals still consider homosexuality a pathological issue.[8] Robert Biedron, a Polish politician and LGBT+ activist, has officially argued that homosexuals in Poland are persecuted just the same as Jews were under the Third Reich.[9] He claimed that Andrzej Duda dehumanizes LGBT. Furthermore, a major challenge for the LGBT people recently came into play: the so-called ‘LGBT-free zones or LGBT ideology-free zones.’[10]

 

Source image: https://seenthis.net/messages/823777

 LGBT-free zones as a total ban to entry?

LGBT-free zones or LGBT ideology-free zones in Poland are regions and municipalities which declared ‘LGBT ideology’ unwelcome within their territories. These municipalities prohibit LGBT+ events and equality marches. In December 2019, the European Parliament voted to condemn such LGBT-free zones.[11] Despite that, in June 2020, 100 municipalities, about a third of Poland, adopted a symbolic resolution that established their official status as LGBT-free zones. Following this event, in July 2020, the Provincial Administrative Courts in Radom and Gliwice ruled against the LGBT-free zones. The reason for such ruling was that LGBT ideology-free zones are in violation of the constitution and are discriminative towards LGBT+ individuals in these municipalities.[12]

 

Source image: https://www.worldaware.com/resources/blog/european-unions-intervention-polands-lgbt-free-zones

 

The future of LGBT+ members in Poland is undeniably uncertain. A prominent Polish LGBT+ activist from Krakow, Bartosz Staszewski stressed: ‘For me, I expect that the European Union will be not a union of empty words […] I think the protection of LGBT rights are crucial for the future of Poland in the European Union.’[13] Polish LGBT+ members and Poland itself urgently need support, based upon Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.[14]

[1] ILGA-Europe. Country Ranking. https://www.rainbow-europe.org/country-ranking#eu.

 

[2] Tilles, D. (2020, June 10). Polish president pledges to "defend children from LGBT ideology" ahead of election. Notes From Poland (NFP). https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/06/10/polish-president-pledges-to-defend-children-from-foreign-lgbt-ideology-ahead-of-election/.

[3] Tilles, D. (2020, May 14). Poland ranked as worst country in EU for LGBT people. Notes From Poland (NFP). https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/05/14/poland-ranked-as-worst-country-in-eu-for-lgbt-people/.

 

[4] Ojewska, N. (2020, October 6). Poland's culture war: LGBT people forced to turn to civil disobedience. euronews. https://www.euronews.com/2020/10/06/poland-s-culture-war-lgbt-people-cornered-by-toxic-politics-are-turning-to-civil-disobedie.

[5] Ojewska, N. (2020, October 6). Poland's culture war: LGBT people forced to turn to civil disobedience. euronews. https://www.euronews.com/2020/10/06/poland-s-culture-war-lgbt-people-cornered-by-toxic-politics-are-turning-to-civil-disobedie.

[6] Douglas, E. (2020, August 8). Poland: Police arrest 48 pro-LGBT protesters. Deutsche Welle (DW). https://www.dw.com/en/poland-police-arrest-48-pro-lgbt-protesters/a-54494623.

[7] FRA – European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. (2016). (rep.). Professionally speaking: challenges to achieving equality for LGBT people. Retrieved from https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2016-lgbt-public-officials_en.pdf

[8] FRA – European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. (2016). (rep.). Professionally speaking: challenges to achieving equality for LGBT people. Retrieved from https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2016-lgbt-public-officials_en.pdf

[9] Greenhalgh, H. (2020, September 14). Poland's anti-LGBT+ tirade similar to pre-war 'dehumanising' of Jews, MEP says. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-lgbt-politics-idUSKBN26522L.

[10]Poland: Crackdown On LGBT Activists. Human Rights Watch. (2020, August 7). https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/07/poland-crackdown-lgbt-activists.

[11] Tilles, D. (2019, December 18). European Parliament condemns "LGBT-free zones" in Poland. Notes From Poland (NFP). https://notesfrompoland.com/2019/12/18/european-parliament-resolution-condemns-lgbti-free-zones-in-poland/.

[12] The court annulled the municipal "anti-LGBT" resolution. "This is the first such verdict in Poland," crushing justification. World Today News. (2020, July 14). https://www.world-today-news.com/the- court-annulled-the-municipal-anti-lgbt-resolution-this-is-the-first-such-verdict-in-poland-crushing-justification/.

[13] Douglas, E. (2020, September 25). How the EU can stop Poland's 'LGBT-free zones'. Deutsche Welle (DW). https://www.dw.com/en/how-the-eu-can-stop-polands-lgbt-free-zones/a-55042896.

[14] United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.

Main Image source: https://euobserver.com/justice/148681