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An '''LGBT-free zone''' ({{lang-pl|Strefa wolna od LGBT}}<ref>[https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ny-lgbtq-free-zone-poland-gazerta-polska-20190725-fclqose45fd5bg3b36vktbmmae-story.html Outrage over 'LGBTQ-free zone' stickers distributed by Polish magazine], New York Daily News, 25 July 2019</ref>) is an act by a Polish municipality,<ref name="Wapo20190719"/><ref name="CBC20190727"/> [[powiat]] (county),<ref name="TVN20190722"/> or [[voivodeship]] (province)<ref name="Telegraph20190809"/> declaring their respective regions as free of [[LGBT]] "ideology".<ref name="NYT20190727"/> While unenforceable and considered primarily symbolic, activists say the declared zones represent an attempt to stigmatize and exclude members of the LGBT community.<ref name="CBC20190727"/><ref name="Telegraph20190809" /> As of August 2019, around 30 different LGBT-free zone declarations have been made in Poland, including four voivodeships in the south-east of the country:<ref name="Wapo20190719"/><ref name="Wyborcza20190719"/><ref name="TVN20190722"/><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/poland/2019-08-07/new-threat-polands-sexual-minorities|title=The New Threat to Poland's Sexual Minorities|last=Figlerowicz|first=Marta|date=August 9, 2019|work=|access-date=August 19, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0015-7120}}</ref> [[Lesser Poland Voivodeship|Lesser Poland]], [[Podkarpackie Voivodeship|Podkarpackie]], [[Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship|Świętokrzyskie]], and [[Lublin Voivodeship|Lublin]].<ref name="Wyborcza20190719"/>
An '''LGBT-free zone''' ({{lang-pl|Strefa wolna od LGBT}}<ref>[https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ny-lgbtq-free-zone-poland-gazerta-polska-20190725-fclqose45fd5bg3b36vktbmmae-story.html Outrage over 'LGBTQ-free zone' stickers distributed by Polish magazine], New York Daily News, 25 July 2019</ref>) is an act by a Polish municipality,<ref name="Wapo20190719"/><ref name="CBC20190727"/> [[powiat]] (county),<ref name="TVN20190722"/> or [[voivodeship]] (province)<ref name="Telegraph20190809"/> declaring their respective regions as free of [[LGBT]] "ideology".<ref name="NYT20190727"/>
While unenforceable and considered primarily symbolic, activists say the declared zones represent an attempt to stigmatize and exclude members of the LGBT community.<ref name="CBC20190727"/><ref name="Telegraph20190809" /> As of August 2019, around 30 different LGBT-free zone declarations have been made in Poland, including four voivodeships in the south-east of the country:<ref name="Wapo20190719"/><ref name="Wyborcza20190719"/><ref name="TVN20190722"/><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/poland/2019-08-07/new-threat-polands-sexual-minorities|title=The New Threat to Poland's Sexual Minorities|last=Figlerowicz|first=Marta|date=August 9, 2019|work=|access-date=August 19, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0015-7120}}</ref> [[Lesser Poland Voivodeship|Lesser Poland]], [[Podkarpackie Voivodeship|Podkarpackie]], [[Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship|Świętokrzyskie]], and [[Lublin Voivodeship|Lublin]].<ref name="Wyborcza20190719"/>


== Background ==
== Background ==

Revision as of 02:03, 11 September 2019

An LGBT-free zone (Polish: Strefa wolna od LGBT[1]) is an act by a Polish municipality,[2][3] powiat (county),[4] or voivodeship (province)[5] declaring their respective regions as free of LGBT "ideology".[6]

While unenforceable and considered primarily symbolic, activists say the declared zones represent an attempt to stigmatize and exclude members of the LGBT community.[3][5] As of August 2019, around 30 different LGBT-free zone declarations have been made in Poland, including four voivodeships in the south-east of the country:[2][7][4][8] Lesser Poland, Podkarpackie, Świętokrzyskie, and Lublin.[7]

Background

August 2019 protest in support of archbishop Marek Jędraszewski statements on LGBT. Sign reads: "away ([down]) with leftist totalitarian ideology", precz (throw away) is also on the crossed-out gay pride flag

In February 2019, Warsaw's liberal mayor Rafał Trzaskowski signed a declaration supporting LGBTQ rights[5][9] and announced his intention to follow World Health Organization guidelines and integrate LGBT issues into the Warsaw school sex education curricula.[5] PiS politicians objected to the sex education program saying it would sexualize children.[10] PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński responded to the declaration, calling LGBT rights "an import" that threatened Poland.[11] The declaration "enraged and galvanized" conservative politicians and conservative media in Poland, according to The Daily Telegraph.[5] The LGBT-free zone declarations are considered to be a reaction to the Warsaw declaration.[5][12]

The conservative establishment is fearful of a liberal transition that may erode the power of the Catholic Church in Poland in a manner similar to the transition around the Irish Church.[5] Decreasing Church attendance, rising secularization, and priest pedophilia scandals have put pressure on the conservative position.[5]

painting of a madonna and child with halos rendered in rainbow colors
Pride marcher in Częstochowa holding the Rainbow Madonna, a depiction of Black Madonna of Częstochowa with the halo replaced by rainbow colors. In May 2019, civil-rights activist Elżbieta Podleśna was arrested for the charge of offending religious sentiment in relation to distribution of such posters.[13][14]

In May 2019, Polish police arrested civil-rights activist Elżbieta Podleśna for putting up posters of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa with the halo painted rainbow colors for the charge of offending religious sentiment, which is illegal in Poland.[13][14] Also in May, two weeks prior to the 2019 European Parliament election, a documentary on child sex abuse in the Church, was released online.[13] The documentary was expected to hurt the Church-aligned PiS electorally, which led PiS leader Kaczyński to speak heatedly of the Polish nation and children as being under attack by deviant foreign ideas, which led conservative voters to rally around PiS.[13] 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.[13]

In August 2019, the Archbishop of Kraków Marek Jędraszewski said LGBT people were like a "rainbow plague" in a sermon commemorating the Warsaw uprising.[15][16][17] Not long after, a drag queen simulated his murder on stage.[18]

As of 2019, 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 Telegraph.[5] Public perceptions, however, have been becoming more tolerant of gays, albeit more slowly in rural areas, according to surveys.[5] In 2001 41 percent of Poles surveyed stated gayness should "not be tolerated", whereas in 2017 only 24 percent expressed this opinion and 55 percent said gays should be tolerated.[5]

Declarations

LGBT-free zone motions are made by Polish municipalities,[2][3] Powiats (counties),[4] and Voivodeships (provinces)[5] who declare the regions under their control as free of LGBT "ideology"[6] in reaction to the declaration.[12] While unenforceable, activists say the declared zones represent attempts to exclude the LGBT community.[3][5] Activist Olga Kaczorek called the declarations "a statement saying that a specific kind of people is not welcome there."[3]

In March 2019, the town of Świdnik in eastern Poland passed a resolution rejecting "LGBT ideology".[10]

As of August 2019, around 30 different LGBT-free zones have been declared in Poland, including four Voivodeships in the south-east of the country:[2][7][8][4] Lesser Poland, Podkarpackie, Świętokrzyskie, and Lublin.[7] The four Voivodeships form the "historically conservative" part of Poland.[3]

Powiats adopting such measures include: Białystok County, Jarosław County, Lesko County, Lubaczów County, Mielec County, Puławy County, Ryki County, Świdnik County, Tarnów County, and Zamość County.[19]

Law and Justice party

Ahead of the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party took an anti-migrant stance.[2] With migration slowing significantly,[3] in the run-up to the 2019 Polish parliamentary election the party has focused on countering Western "LGBT ideology".[2] PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński labelled migrants as "parasites and protozoa" in 2015, while in 2019 he rebuked the Warsaw mayor's pro-LGBTQ declaration as "an attack on the family and children" and stated that LGBTQ was an "imported" ideology.[5]

After Archbishop Jędraszewski made his speech calling LGBT people a rainbow plague, the Polish minister for aid defended the comments, saying LGBT was an "ideology".[16]

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro ordered an investigation of Ikea after it fired an employee who expressed homophobic sentiments, which according to The Washington Post, "[kept] the conflict in the news".[2][15]

Stickers

LGBT-free zone stickers distributed by the Gazeta Polska newspaper

The conservative Gazeta Polska newspaper issued "LGBT-free zone" stickers to readers.[20] The Polish opposition and diplomats, including US ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher, condemned the stickers.[6][21] Gazeta editor in chief Tomasz Sakiewicz replied to the criticism with: "what is happening is the best evidence that LGBT is a totalitarian ideology".[21]

The Warsaw district court ordered that distribution of the stickers should halt pending the resolution of a court case.[22] However Gazeta's editor dismissed the ruling saying it was "fake news" and censorship, and that the paper would continue distributing the stickers.[23] Gazeta continued distribution of the stickers, but modified the decal to read "LGBT Ideology-Free Zone".[22]

In July Polish media chain Empik, the country's largest, refused to stock Gazeta Polska after it issued the stickers.[17]

Demonstrations

Nationalists counter-protesting June 2019 Rzeszów pride parade
June 2019 Rzeszów pride parade

In Rzeszów, after LGBT activists submitted a request to hold a pride march, PiS councilors drafted a resolution to make Rzeszów an LGBT-free zone as well as outlaw the event itself.[13] 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.[13] The ban was then overturned by a court ruling.[13] PiS councilors put forward a resolution outlawing "LGBT ideology", which was defeated by two votes.[13]

Following the violent events in the first Białystok equality march[3][24] and the Gazeta Polska stickers a demonstration for tolerance was held in Gdańsk[25] on 23 July 2019, with the slogan "zone free of zones" (Polish: Strefa wolna od stref).[26][27][28] In Szczecin a demonstration under the slogan of "hate-free zone" (Polish: Strefa wolna od nienawiści) took place,[28][29] and in Łódź left-wing politicians handed out "hate-free zone" stickers.[28][30]

Reactions

Synagogue in Bydgoszcz, Poland, 1939. Nazi banner proclaiming city is Judenfrei (free of Jews). This image was tweeted by a representative of Robert Biedroń's party in response to the LGBT-free zones.[31][32]

Support for declarations

Bożena Bieryło, a PiS councilwoman in Białystok County, said the legislation in Białystok county was required due to LGBT "provocations" and "demands" for sex education instruction.[6]

The national PiS party has encouraged the local declarations, with a PiS official handing out medals in Lublin to local politicians who supported the declarations.[2]

Criticism of declarations

In July 2019, Polish Ombudsman Adam Bodnar stated that "the government is increasing homophobic sentiments" with remarks "on the margins of hate speech".[2] Bodnar said he is preparing an appeal to the administrative court against the declarations, as according to Bodnar they are not only political but also have a normative character that affects the lives of people in the declared region.[4][33]

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 and are illegal as they violate article 32 of the Constitution of Poland which guarantees equality and lack of discrimination.[34][35][12]

In July 2019, a group of Catholic lay faithful started a petition to their bishops and other members of clergy as well as the members of religious orders and congregations, condemning their participation in the attacks on the LGBTQ+. They have since created an English version of the appeal. The petition itself was a long rebuttal using the Scripture and Catholic tradition, as well as certain scientific facts, against some of the arguments used against the LGBTQ+ people in Poland, that contradicted the facts about them. It was later mentioned in some of the media, including a New Ways Ministry blog.[36]

In August 2019, multiple LGBT community members have stated that they feel unsafe in Poland.[16]

The Razem party stated: "Remember how the right [were scared] of the so-called [Muslim] no-go zones? Thanks to the same right, we have our own no-go zones."[37][38]

Liberal politicians and media and human rights activists have compared the declarations to Nazi-era declarations of areas being Judenfrei (free of Jews). Left-leaning Italian newspaper la Repubblica called it "a concept that evokes the term 'Judenfrei'".[39][40] Campaign Against Homophobia director Slava Melnyk compared the declarations to "1933, when there were also free zones from a specific group of people."[41] Warsaw's deputy president Paweł Rabiej tweeted, "The German fascists created zones free of Jews. Apartheid, of blacks."[20][32]

See also

References

  1. ^ Outrage over 'LGBTQ-free zone' stickers distributed by Polish magazine, New York Daily News, 25 July 2019
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Polish towns advocate 'LGBT-free' zones while the ruling party cheers them on, Washington Post, 21 July 2019, reprint at Independent
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Why 'LGBT-free zones' are on the rise in Poland, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 27 July 2019
  4. ^ a b c d e Bodnar: I'm preparing to appeal against resolutions banning LGBT ideology, TVN24, 22 July 2019
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Polish ruling party whips up LGBTQ hatred ahead of elections amid 'gay-free' zones and Pride march attacks, Telegraph, 9 August 2019
  6. ^ a b c d Anti-Gay Brutality in a Polish Town Blamed on Poisonous Propaganda, New York Times, 27 July 2019
  7. ^ a b c d The Krakow municipality responds to the homophobic act of "Gazeta Polska", Gazeta Wyborcza (Krakow), 19 July 2019
  8. ^ a b Figlerowicz, Marta (August 9, 2019). "The New Threat to Poland's Sexual Minorities". ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  9. ^ "Pride and prejudice: Poland at war over gay rights before vote". South China Morning Post. 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  10. ^ a b Polish towns go 'LGBT free' ahead of bitter European election campaign, Reuters, Marcin Goclowski & Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, 21 May 2019
  11. ^ Roache, Madeline (July 3, 2019). "Poland Is Holding Massive Pride Parades. But How Far Have LGBTQ Rights Really Come?". Time. Retrieved August 19, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  12. ^ a b c PTPA press release and legal opinion, Polish Society for Anti-Discrimination Law, 19 July 2019
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i 'FOREIGN IDEOLOGY': POLAND'S POPULISTS TARGET LGBT RIGHTS, Claudia Ciobanu, Balkan Insight, 26 June 2019
  14. ^ a b LGBT Virgin Mary triggers Polish activist's detention, BBC, 14 May 2019
  15. ^ a b Poland's ruling party fuels anti-LGBT sentiment ahead of elections, Financial Times, 11 August 2019
  16. ^ a b c Activists warn Poland's LGBT community is 'under attack', Euronews, 8 August 2019
  17. ^ a b Luxmoore, Jonathan (August 19, 2019). "Church in Poland continues confrontation with the LGBTQ community". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved August 19, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  18. ^ "Drag queen "symulował zabójstwo" Jędraszewskiego. KEP i RPO komentują kontrowersyjny występ". www.rmf24.pl (in Polish). August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  19. ^ Where in Poland were the resolutions adopted against "LGBT ideology"?, ONET, 23 July 2019
  20. ^ a b Polish newspaper to issue 'LGBT-free zone' stickers, BBC, 18 July 2019
  21. ^ a b Conservative Polish magazine issues 'LGBT-free zone' stickers, Reuters, 24 July 2019
  22. ^ a b Polish Court Rebukes "LGBT-Free Zone" Stickers, HRW, 1 August 2019
  23. ^ Polish magazine dismisses court ruling on 'LGBT-free zone' stickers, Politico, 26 July 2019
  24. ^ Polish city holds first LGBTQ pride parade despite far-right violence, CNN, 21 July 2019
  25. ^ Right-wing Polish magazine slammed for anti-LGBT stickers, Associated press (reprint by San Francisco Chronicle), 24 July 2019
  26. ^ "Everyone is equal, everyone is different". A protest against hatred took place in Gdansk, Maciej Dzwonnik, Gazeta Wyborcza (Trojmiasto), 23 July 2019
  27. ^ "Zone free of zones" – a manifestation against hatred, in a gesture of solidarity with LGBT in Gdansk (23.07), Dziennik Baltycki, 23 July 2019
  28. ^ a b c Solidarity with Bialystok. Marches, rebounds and # TęczowaŚroda, Polityka, 23 July 2019
  29. ^ Szczecin – a zone free from hatred! In response to this fury, this gutter, Gazeta Wyborcza 26 July 2019
  30. ^ Łódź together with Białystok. "Hate Free Zone" stickers were distributed, there will be a picket, Gazeta Wyborcza, 23 July 2019
  31. ^ Polish magazine distributed stickers "LGBT-free zone", queer.de, 18 July 2019
  32. ^ a b Polish magazine criticized for planning 'LGBT-free zone' stickers, NBC News, Tim Fitzsimons 19 July 2019, quote: "While conservative social media users cheered the move on Twitter and on Facebook, many liberal Poles connected the effort to create "LGBT-free" zones to Nazi efforts to create zones free of Jews."
  33. ^ Right-wing Polish magazine issues anti-LGBT stickers, Bangkok Post, 24 July 2019
  34. ^ Local governments adopt resolutions aimed at LGBT communities, TVN24, 25 July 2019
  35. ^ The laws of "LGBT free" regions are unlawful, 22 July 2019, Queer.pl
  36. ^ Veterans Who Fought Nazi Occupation Condemn Polish Archbishop's Anti-LGBTQ Comments,, New Ways Ministry, 26th August 2019, start reading from "[...]But some of Poland's faithful have resisted the bishops' harmful rhetoric[...]",
  37. ^ Polish newspaper is handing out 'LGBT-free zone' stickers, 18 July 2019, Gay Star News
  38. ^ "Gazeta Polska" drukuje naklejki "Strefa wolna od LGBT". "Czy ktoś w redakcji słyszał o nazistach?", gazeta.pl, 17 July 2019
  39. ^ Poland, beatings and insults to the gay pride of Bialystok, la Repubblica, 21 July 2019
  40. ^ RPO on the "LGBT Free Zone": Poland is facing discrimination in the services market, Rzeczpospolita, 5 August 2019
  41. ^ The newspaper promotes stickers with the words "LGBT free zone". US ambassador "disappointed and worried", TVN24, Magda Łucyan, 19 July 2019
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