A local authority that was the first in Poland to adopt a resolution declaring itself “free from LGBT ideology” has voted to withdraw the measure. It did so under the threat of losing millions of zloty in EU funding over the issue.

Activists involved in tracking the anti-LGBT resolutions passed by Polish local authorities report that, of the 105 initially introduced in 2019 and 2020, currently only 15 remain in force. As well as being withdrawn under financial pressure, some have also been overturned by court rulings.

The Atlas of Hate showing local authorities in Poland that have enacted anti-LGBT resolutions (in red) and those that have rejected or withdrawn them (in green) in February 2020 (left) and now (right). Areas in yellow show where lobbying for such resolutions has taken place.

On 26 March 2019, Świdnik county, an area of around 70,000 people in eastern Poland, was the first to pass such a resolution. It declared itself “free from LGBT ideology” and pledged to prevent “the sexualisation of Polish children” in schools through “homopropaganda”.

The measure was passed with the votes of local councillors from the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has been in government at the national level since 2015 and has during that time led a vocal anti-LGBT campaign.

The resolution in Świdnik was proposed by Radosław Brzózka, a local councillor and now chief of staff to PiS education minister Przemysław Czarnek. The minister has himself called LGBT people “deviants who do not have the same rights as normal people”.

However, last week, a local councillor in Świdnik, Jakub Osina, announced that the resolution has now been repealed and replaced with one that makes no mention of LGBT issues but pledges to protect “the moral development of the young generation and the institution of the family based on Christian values”.

News website OKO.press notes that the change was made after Świdnik saw an application for 3.6 million zloty (€810,000) in EU funds rejected because the money could only be granted to entities that comply with anti-discrimination regulations.

In July 2021, the European Commission launched legal proceedings against Poland due to its anti-LGBT resolutions, which it argued “may violate EU law regarding non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation”.

Soon after, Brussels “put on hold” funding for Polish regions that had passed such resolutions, who were informed that “declaring LGBTIQ-free/unwelcome territories…constitutes an action that is against the values set out in the Treaty on European Union”.

The EEA and Norway Grants programme, which provides funds to Polish local authorities, also announced that it would not finance projects run by places that have passed anti-LGBT resolutions.

The threat of losing funds led many Polish local authorities to begin repealing the resolutions. That included the town of Świdnik, which had passed its own resolution, but until now not the surrounding Świdnik county.

In April this year, a first effort was made to repeal the resolution and replace it with one that retained a similar meaning but removed the words “LGBT ideology” and “homopropaganda”, reported OKO.press

However, that attempt was thwarted by opposition councillors, who “did not want to let PiS get away so easily with the resolution they have defended for a long time”, according to LGBT rights activist Bart Staszewski.

Councillors from the centrist Civic Platform (PO), the main opposition party nationally, told newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza that, before allowing the resolution to be withdrawn, they wanted PiS officials to admit their mistake and apologise to those hurt by it.

But now the council has agreed to repeal the old resolution and replace it with one worded completely differently. The decision comes a few months before local elections.

Earlier this year, it was reported that the EU had ended its legal action against Poland regarding the anti-LGBT zones. It did not give a reason for its decision.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Pin It on Pinterest

Notes From Poland
Facebook
Twitter
Facebook
Twitter
Polish government releases strategic butter reserves
Remains of German Enigma machine discovered buried in Poland
Positive sentiment towards Poles among Ukrainians falls by half in two years
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
Juliette  Bretan
Daniel Tilles
Stanley Bill
Maria Wilczek
Ben Koschalka
Norman Davies
Timothy Garton Ash
Andrzej Nowak
  Shana Penn
  Paweł Kowal
Olga Tokarczuk
Sioban Doucette
Support us!