The European Union will denying funding to six Polish towns that have declared themselves “L.G.B.T.-free zones,” in a rare financial sanction of a member nation over a human rights issue. “E.U. values and fundamental rights must be respected by Member States and state authorities,” Helena Dalli, the European Union commissioner for equality, as reported by the New York Times. The Polish authorities that adopted “L.G.B.T.-free zones” or “family rights” resolutions failed to protect those rights, she wrote, and their funding applications had therefore been rejected.
Poland (like its neighbor Hungary) has steadily chipped away at some of the bedrock institutions that allow for a healthy democracy, including a free press and a judicial system free of political influence. Poland has been threatened with having their voting rights in the EU bloc suspended-- but has faced little in the way of concrete punishments.
Even by the often brutal standards of Polish politics, however, the demonization of gay men and lesbians by government officials over the past two years has been ferocious. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the governing party, has repeatedly told supporters that Poles will not be forced “to stand under the rainbow flag.” He has said that homosexuality represents a “threat to Polish identity, to our nation, to its existence and thus to the Polish state.” He has led a campaign amplified by state television, which has been turned into a propaganda arm of the government, and by prominent members of the Catholic clergy.
Nearly 100 local governments, representing a third of Poland’s territory, declared themselves “free from L.G.B.T. ideology.” Although the declarations do not have legal force, they are viewed by many as menacing. And the heated rhetoric has been blamed for violence against gay men and lesbians.
When marchers tried to take part in a gay pride parade in the conservative city of Bialystok last summer, opponents threw bricks, stones and fireworks at them. Some protesters were attacked and as the violent clashes escalated, with dozens wounded, the police had to deploy tear gas. A few months later, in December, the European Parliament condemned discrimination against the L.G.B.T.Q. community and called on the Polish government to take action to revoke the declarations by local authorities. Nothing was done.
During Poland’s July presidential election, the governing party once again targeted gay men, lesbians and transsexuals. President Andrzej Duda said “L.G.B.T. ideology” was more dangerous than communist doctrine and he made it the central issue of his campaign. He narrowly won a second term, but the close fight and divisive rhetoric polarized Polish society even further. And the anti-L.G.B.T. invective has come at a cost. According to a 2020 survey by ILGA, an international gay rights organization, Poland is now the most homophobic country in the European Union.
The Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro has said that the EU funding decision was “unfounded and unlawful,” arguing that European institutions should respect the national identities of all member countries. Ziobro denounced the European Commission, saying that some of its members were “ideologically obstinate” and wanted to impose “the agenda of homosexual activists” on others.
But Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, which distributes European Union funding, defended the decision to reject sending money to the Polish towns. “Our treaties ensure that every person in Europe is free to be who they are, live where they like, love who they want, and aim as high as they want,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “I will continue to push for a union of equality.”
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