LGBTQ+ situation in Poland: From Anna Grodzka to today - DYKKA.com
Source: Photo TT/Gazeta Polska
This year marks 12 years since the election of Anna Grodzka, Poland's first transgender MP, to the Sejm. However, Poland certainly cannot boast of a respectful approach to LGBT+ people. What is the situation of queer people in the land of polka and mazurka?
Although a large percentage of LGBTQ+ people on Earth probably face discrimination, Poland is one of the countries where these acts are openly committed. The international human rights organization Amnesty International describes how Poland has seen homophobic attacks by politicians, the declaration of LGBTQ+-free zones in individual municipalities, violence against queer people, and a ban on sex education.
Similar to the Czech Republic, some people in Poland consider queer people to be an ideology, or rather the spread of an ideology, which threatens society or Christianity. However, in Poland, this attitude is not only found among political representatives, but also among the operators of bars, restaurants, pubs or media outlets where the labels "strefa wolna bez LGBTI+" appear.
The situation of LGBTQ+ people in Poland is of course also being noticed by people outside of Poland. The international organization ILGA-Europe, which monitors the human rights of queer people in European countries, has even created a timeline of hate attacks against LGBTQ+ people. Here we find the ban on the pride march in Lublin and Rzeszow, vans with anti-Semitic slogans, protests with a statue of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa with a rainbow halo, and much more.
It was the attack on the van with the homophobic slogan and its driver that landed Polish activist Margot from the Stop bzdurom collective in custody for several weeks. She was not the only victim of Poland's crackdown on queer activists in the country: the police arrested several dozen people protesting her arrest the day after.
Is there any hope that the situation in Poland will change? It doesn't look like it yet. Although the country is due to hold elections to the Sejm and Senate in the second half of the year, the conservative PiS (Law and Justice) party, which also won the previous elections, is leading in opinion polls. The Catholic Church also has enormous social influence in Poland, and its Polish leadership is not in favor of LGBTQ+ rights.