In a win for Poland’s LGBTQ+ community, the country has abolished the last of its draconian LGBT-Free zones which have excluded gay people from public life in local communities for years.
In 2020, over 100 of Poland’s municipalities were designated ‘LGBT-free zones,’ which essentially meant these areas were to be void of LGBTQ+ education, culture and “ideology.” Most of these municipalities were located in Poland’s southeastern region. Polish youth pushed back on the zones, a few even founded an organization called The Atlas of Hate which documented all the Polish municipalities where LGBT free zones were adopted. They faced multiple lawsuits from Polish counties.
What’s more, the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland also declared that the zones were in violation of the ‘dignity, honor, good name and closely related private life of a specific group of citizens.’
After the zones were established in Poland, the country received backlash from the European Union. which made efforts to block Poland’s judiciary from violating the EU’s fundamental values, launching legal proceedings and even cutting off EU funding in these communities. The eventual funding cuts from the European Commission in these designated areas spurred quick change.
In 2024, a survey found that 67% of Polish respondents also support of same-sex marriage, according to reports from Metro. But marriage equality has still not been passed in the country. Last year, new legislation was introduced to support the legal recognition of partnerships between same-sex couples.Though the majority of the country’s ruling coalition support the bill, it is also suspected that conservative groups or conservative President Andrzej Duda would reject it.
