UN expert calls on Poland to improve LGBT+ rights

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

A United Nations expert has warned that “LGBT individuals are negatively affected by the lack of adequate protections” in Poland and has called on the country’s lawmakers to urgently address the issue, noting “frustration at the slow pace of legislative change” under the current government.

Graeme Reid, the United Nations independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, issued his findings following a ten-day fact-finding mission to Poland. He will present a full report to the UN’s Human Rights Council next year.

In his statement, Reid criticised the “state-sponsored hostile rhetoric and public policies directed against LGBT people” under the former national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government.

However, he also noted that there remains a lack of legal rights and protections under the new, more liberal administration that took office last year.

Reid reported hearing “many heart-rending individual stories” that illustrated broader problems of LGBT+ people in Poland, such as same-sex couples being denied access to their partners in hospitals due to a lack of partnership recognition or trans people having to sue their parents to obtain legal gender recognition.

“I heard reports of self-harm among LGBT youth in some parts of Poland – driven by rejection at home, bullying in schools, and inadequate access to health, education and psychological support to deal with those daily realities,” he added.

While Poland’s current ruling coalition – which ranges from left to centre-right – has made various pledges to improve LGBT+ rights, it has yet to pass any such laws. Reid noted “frustration at the slow pace of legislative change”.

“It is imperative that parliament take action…to address human rights violations…[by] adopt[ing] swift and decisive legislative reforms to bring Poland’s laws and policies into conformity with international human rights standards,” wrote the UN expert.

During its eight years in office from 2015 to the end of last year, PiS led a strident campaign against what it called “LGBT ideology” and presented as a threat to Polish families, culture, identity and even the state itself. That led Poland to be repeatedly ranked as the worst country in the European Union for LGBT+ people.

While the new ruling coalition last year committed to introducing hate crime protections for LGBT+ people, only last week did the government finally approve plans to do so. Parliament has yet to discuss the proposed legislation.

Some elements of the coalition have also called for the introduction of same-sex civil partnerships. However, those plans are being slowed down by opposition from more conservative elements in the government.

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: Max Bashyrov/Flickr (under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Agata Pyka

Agata Pyka is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a journalist and a political communication student at the University of Amsterdam. She specialises in Polish and European politics as well as investigative journalism and has previously written for Euractiv and The European Correspondent.