Whole EU declared “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone” in response to Polish anti-LGBT resolutions

The European Parliament has declared the entire European Union to be an “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone” in a resolution passed with overwhelming support today.

The declaration comes explicitly in response to a number of local authorities in Poland adopting resolutions that reject “LGBT ideology”. Such areas have often been dubbed “LGBT-free zones” in international media (though that term is not itself used in any of the resolutions).

The European Parliament’s resolution – which, like the Polish anti-LGBT declarations, is symbolic rather than having any legal effect – was passed with 492 votes in favour and only 141 against, plus 46 abstentions.

The text of the resolution declares that “LGBTIQ rights are human rights” and makes reference to various EU directives, rulings and other documents regarding equality for sexual and gender minorities. “All member states have assumed obligations…to respect, guarantee, protect and fulfil [these] fundamental rights,” it reads.

Yet in Poland “resolutions [that] discriminate directly and indirectly against LGBTIQ people” have been introduced in over 100 areas. Most declare opposition to “LGBT ideology”, while others are so-called “family charters” that reject same-sex marriage and promise to “protect children from moral corruption”.

These moves have come, continues the resolution, as

part of a broader context of increased discrimination and attacks against the LGBTIQ community in Poland, which include characterising diversity of sexuality, identity and expression as a dangerous ideology, of growing hate speech by public authorities, elected officials – including by the current President – and the pro-Government media, as well as of arrests of LGBTIQ rights activists, of attacks against and bans on Pride marches and…discriminatory anti-LGBT demonstrations.

The authors – who include Polish MEPs such as former prime ministers Leszek Miller and Marek Belka – also condemn attempts to “intimidate and silence” LGBT activists though strategic lawsuits launched by local governments and “fundamentalist organisations”.

They note that, according to a survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Poland has the highest proportion of LGBT people who avoid going to certain places for fear of being assaulted (79%) and the lowest proportion who have faith in the government’s efforts to combat discrimination and violence (4%).

Though the resolution focuses primarily on Poland, it also points to examples of anti-LGBT actions in other member states. It calls on the European Commission to “use all tools” to combat them, including launching infringement proceedings and utilising the recently adopted regulation allowing funds from the EU budget to be withheld for rule-of-law violations.

During last night’s debate in the European Parliament on the resolution, the Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, said that the European Commission supported declaring the EU to be an “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone”.

“LGBTIQ people have come under increasing attack by politicians, religious leaders and other public figures,” said Dalli. “This has led to increased scapegoating of LGBTIQ persons, who are, for instance, framed as a threat to children..”

The resolution was, however, condemned by Ryszard Legutko, a senior MEP from Poland’s ruling national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. The Polish government has led a vociferous anti-LGBT campaign since 2019, and most of the local authorities that have passed anti-LGBT declarations are under PiS control.

Legutko called the resolution another example of an “ideological action” from western Europe, where “from the nursery [onwards] you feed infants with gender and gender fluidity…poisoning minds with political correctness”.

Speaking ahead of the debate, Poland’s justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, declared that “the Brussels elites want at all costs to impose a left-wing, extremely liberal ideological LGBT agenda on Poland, pushing for solutions that are de facto discriminatory against the great majority of Poles”, reports Wirtualna Polska.

Though the European Parliament’s resolution is symbolic, Poland’s anti-LGBT declarations have already begun to have concrete consequences. Last July, the European Commission rejected funding applications from six Polish towns because of their resolutions. One region likewise lost millions in Norway grants.

As a result, some have begun to back away from their resolutions. Last month, Nowa Dęba became the first to withdraw its declaration of opposition to “LGBT ideology”, saying it had been “exploited” to damage the town. Four anti-LGBT resolutions have also been declared unconstitutional by courts.

However, many local authorities have stuck by their resolutions. Last September, Kraśnik town council voted to maintain its anti-LGBT declaration. A number of authorities are also suing activists for labelling them “LGBT-free zones” and for including them in an online “Atlas of Hate”.

Main image credit: TerryReintke/Twitter

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.