LGBTQ-free zone
[21][22] The Economist considers the zones "a legally meaningless gimmick with the practical effect of declaring open season on gay people".
[23] In a December 2020 report, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights stated that "Far from being merely words on paper, these declarations and charters directly impact the lives of LGBTI people in Poland.
[42] According to feminist scholar Agnieszka Graff, "The attack on LGBT was triggered by the [Warsaw] Declaration, but that was just a welcome excuse", as PiS sought to woo the rural-traditional demographic and needed a scapegoat to replace migrants.
[22] In August 2019, the Archbishop of Kraków, Marek Jędraszewski, said "LGBT ideology" was like a "rainbow plague" in a sermon commemorating the Warsaw uprising.
[49] As of 2019[update], being openly gay in Poland's small towns and rural areas "[takes] increasing physical and mental fortitude" due to the efforts of Polish authorities and the Catholic Church, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Both of these documents were labelled in media as "declarations of LGBT-free zones",[54] but neither of them actually contain a statement of exclusion of LGBT people from any territory, activities or rights.
[55] An interactive map of Poland marking all municipalities which accepted either one or both of these resolutions, with links to their original texts, is available online, under the titles "Atlas of Hate".
[56][2] As of August 2019[update], around 30 different local governments have accepted such resolutions, including four voivodeships in the south-east of the country:[45][57][58][50] Lesser Poland, Podkarpackie, Świętokrzyskie, and Lublin.
[51][129] Gazeta Polska editor in chief Tomasz Sakiewicz replied to the criticism with: "what is happening is the best evidence that LGBT is a totalitarian ideology".
[127] In July, Polish media chain Empik, the country's largest, refused to stock Gazeta Polska after it issued the stickers.
[135] Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the signs as a "hoax" that had caused people to believe Poland was violating human rights, and Staszewski has been sued by at least two of the towns.
[137] Zeit replied: "Indeed, there is no "LGBT-free zone" by definition, but there are more than 80 county, city and regional councils that have adopted so-called family charters.
[42] Some 29 requests for counter-demonstrations reached city hall, which led mayor Tadeusz Ferenc, of the opposition Democratic Left Alliance, to ban the march due to security concerns.
[42] When the ban was then overturned by a court ruling,[42] PiS councillors put forward a resolution outlawing "LGBT ideology", which was defeated by two votes.
According to a December 2020 report by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights: Far from being merely words on paper, these declarations and charters directly impact the lives of LGBTI people in Poland.
The Commissioner has heard testimonies about the chilling effect of these documents on residents and institutions, who are increasingly reluctant to be associated with any activity related to the human rights of LGBTI people for fear of reprisals or loss of funds.
Activists working to denounce such declarations have also been subjected to specious lawsuits filed by local governments or conservative organisations and a smear campaign labelling them as liars for using creative advocacy tools, the clear intention being to intimidate and silence them.
[45] In July 2019, Polish Ombudsman Adam Bodnar stated that "the government is increasing homophobic sentiments" with remarks "on the margins of hate speech".
[50][145] In July 2019, Warsaw city Councillor Marek Szolc and the Polish Society for Anti-Discrimination Law [pl] (PTPA) released a legal opinion stating that LGBT-free zone declarations stigmatize and exclude people, reminding everyone of article 32 of the Constitution of Poland which guarantees equality and lack of discrimination.
"[128][151] In March 2020, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a documentary on the opposition of the LGBT community in Poland against the introduction of LGBT-free zones in the country.
It also appealed to the Polish government to stop targeting sexual minorities as enemies and to withdraw support from organizations promoting homophobia.
The signatories of the letter included among others: Pedro Almodóvar, Timothy Garton Ash, Margaret Atwood, John Banville, Judith Butler, J. M. Coetzee, Stephen Daldry, Luca Guadagnino, Ed Harris, Agnieszka Holland, Isabelle Huppert, Jan Komasa, Yorgos Lanthimos, Mike Leigh, Paweł Pawlikowski, Volker Schlöndorff, Stellan Skarsgård, Timothy Snyder, Olga Tokarczuk, Adam Zagajewski and Slavoj Žižek.
[160] The Polish embassy in Washington, D.C. replied that Biden's Tweet had been "based on inaccurate media information, as no 'LGBT-free zones' exist in Poland.
[171] In September 2021, the European Commission sent letters to several Polish regional councils indicating that EU funds will be withdrawn if they do not abandon their LGBT-free zone policy.
[173] In January 2023, the Polish town of Świdnik abolished their LGBT-free zone in response to fearing that they would stop receiving EU subsidies.
[194][195] In September 2021, three Polish regions repealed their own anti-LGBT declarations in response to the threat of a funding freeze from the EU, due to its anti-discrimination laws.
