General Overview
In December 2023, Poland elected Donald Tusk and a centrist coalition to power after eight years of conservative rule. A year later, Poland is now at a critical juncture as they face an opportunity to reform the State’s historically tumultuous relationship with LGBTQI+ populations and advocacy groups. Beginning around 2015 and continuing for the next decade, Poland became an increasingly hostile environment for LGBTQI+ individuals, raising human and civil rights concerns amongst EU and UN leaders. Poland is now challenged with reforming the homophobic public attitudes that are now deeply entrenched in many communities.

Poland’s Anti-LGBTQI+ Hate Campaign
In power from 2015 to 2023, Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party often scapegoated and vilified LGBTQI+ populations. In a divided Polish society, the PiS government’s vocal opposition to what they termed as, “LGBT ideology,” gained support among many right-wing leaders and communities across the country. In particular, the false narrative that Polish children are under threat from “homosexual propaganda” took hold. This anti-LGBTQI+ narrative became political fodder for PiS, evidenced by: 

• Proposed ‘anti-propaganda’ legislation in 2017 that, if passed, would have banned LGBTQI+ people from the teaching profession.
• In 2018 President Duda, said that he would “seriously” consider a law banning “homosexual propaganda” in schools.
• In 2019, the PiS party chairman and Poland’s then de facto leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, warned LGBTQI+ activists to keep their “hands off our children” and claimed LGBTQI+ “ideology” was imported into Poland and are a “threat to the Polish Identity” and the existence of a Polish state.
• In campaigning for a second term, President Duda pledged to “defend children from LGBT ideology”.
• In 2023, Education Minister Czarnek blamedthe spread of “LGBTQ+ ideology” and “brainwashing” for the rise of suicide among minors.  

The Rise of “LGBT-Free Zones”
Most notably, between 2015 and 2023, over 100 local municipalities throughout Poland established “LGBT-Free Zones”, which involved passing resolutions against “LGBT ideology” or “Family Rights Charters” where local governments pledged to refrain from any actions that encouraged the tolerance of LGBTQI+ people and limited access to local government funding for LGBTQI+ groups or activities. While the resolutions were non-binding with no formal legal status, they sent a strong message to LGBTQI+ people in Poland that they were not welcome in their hometowns or society at-large. Reflected in an interview with a LGBTQI+ individual during a UN Expert Country Visit, the resolutions were perceived as “a formal call to informal discrimination” that reverberated across Poland for the next several years. During this time, over 400 individual complaints by LGBTQI+ persons were sent to the European Commission regarding their stories of discrimination in Poland’s LGBT-Free Zones including losing jobs and employment contracts, being violently attacked or harassed, and feeling generally excluded from their local communities.

Contextually, it’s important to note that the majority of LGBT-Free Zones were established amidst heightened anti-LGBTQI+ messaging by PiS after the newly elected Mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, adopted an LGBT Charter in 2019 that promised support for vulnerable LGBTQI+ people. The divided stance on LGBTQI+ issues between the left and right-wing parties culminated in LGBTQI+ rights becoming the defining issue of the 2019 parliamentary election and even the 2020 presidential election, where incumbent PiS candidate and President Duda signed a Family Charter. which opposed same-sex marriage, adoption rights for same-sex couples, and comprehensive sexuality education in schools.

Government and Authorities Failing to Protect LGBTQI+ Individuals
While there were instances in recent years where the Polish government demonstrated a more pro-LGBTQI+ stance – like Mayor Trzaskowski’s LGBT Charter for Warsaw, the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw issuing judgments in three cases condemning the National Broadcasting Council’s lack of action in tackling hateful content on TV and radio in 2022,  the Warsaw District Court ordering Gazeta Polska, a government-aligned newspaper, to halt distribution of LGBT-Free Zone stickers, and the increased popularity of Equality Marches throughout the country – the general theme of the past few years has been a Polish government and judicial system that has failed to protect LGBTQI+ individuals, highlighted by the following:

• In May 2023, a woman carrying a rainbow flag was shot in the head with a BB gun at the Olsztyn Equality March.
• In June 2023, at the Equality Pride in Warsaw, a 15-year-old was verbally harassed and then pushed off the tram for wearing a rainbow-colored outfit. The police officer at the scene allegedly made offensive remarks to the teenager.
• Two women were convicted of the crime of offending religious feelings by displaying an image of the Virgin Mary and Jesus with rainbow halos during a Pride march.
  • However, in another case, three LGBTQI+ activists were acquitted of the same offence in 2021 for producing and distributing images of the “Rainbow Virgin Mary”.
• In July 2023, the Justice Minister ordered the release of a far-right activist who had been imprisoned for attacking a woman participating in an LGBTQI+ march. She was later granted a pardon by President Duda.

International Backlash and the End of Formalized Anti-LGBT Zones
The Polish government’s promotion of LGBTQI+ discrimination did not go unnoticed by the international community, and was publicly rebuked by EU institutions and international NGOs:

• In 2019, the European Parliament condemned Poland’s LGBT-Free Zones as public acts of discrimination against LGBTQI+ people.
• Poland was ranked last in the EU in terms of LGBTQI+ rights by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association’s (ILGA) Annual Review and Rainbow Map for five straight years (2020-2024).
• ILGA-Europe, along with Polish LGBTQI+ rights organisations, submitted a legal complaint to the European Commission outlining how the LGBT-Free Zones and Resolutions constituted discrimination against LGBTQI+ people, breaching the European Council Directive (2000/78/EC), Article 15 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (Freedom to choose an occupation and right to engage in work), and Article 21 (Non-discrimination).
• In August 2020, the European Commission cancelled grants for six Polish towns that had declared themselves LGBT-Free Zones.
• In July 2021, the European Commission initiated the first stage of a legal infringement procedure against Poland over the failure by Polish authorities to respond to the Commission’s concerns about the LGBT-Free Zones.  
• In June 2022, the European Commission amendedits Partnership Agreement with Poland to ensure that local governments and municipalities that have declared themselves as LGBT-Free Zones or have anti-LGBT resolutions in place will not receive financial support.

Faced with internal challenges from Polish human rights organisations, threats of funding cuts from the EU, and a pending infringement procedure, the LGBT- Free Zones slowly were dismantled starting in 2021. However, a Country Visit to Poland in November 2024 by a United Nations Independent Expert (on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity) revealed how the residual effects of long periods of overt LGBTQI+ discrimination by the Polish government and society endure to this day, particularly for Poland’s LGBTQI+ youth. This was seen by the UN Expert finding:

• LGBTQI+ children face dire challenges in schools as they have increasingly become victims of peer violence.
• Rising suicide rates (both actual and attempts) among LGBTQI+ adolescents and teenagers.
• Around 25% of LGBTQI+ employees felt the need to hide their sexual orientation at work, for fear of discrimination.
• Increased numbers of LGBTQI+ individuals in housing shelters, due to both employment discrimination translating into difficulties in paying rent and family violence pushing LGBTQI+ youth out onto the streets.
• Government officials, social service providers, and civil society representatives have all noted increased mental health challenges for LGBTQI+ individuals of all ages, much of which is related to “sustained discrimination, instances of violence, or the threat of violence, as well as social ostracism and stigma”.

A New Government’s Promise to Improve LGBTQI+ Rights
However, the tides seem to be shifting in a positive direction for LGBTQI+ rights in Poland. In the 2023 parliamentary elections, Donald Tusk and the centrist coalition campaigned on improving the treatment of LGBTQI+ persons within Poland. In fact, the UN Expert’s visit was partly prompted by Poland’s recent steps in addressing their legacy of harmful LGBTQI+ discrimination and ostracization, including:

• A groundbreaking apologyin January 2024 from the Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, for the past harm caused to LGBTQI+ individuals by Polish state actors and the media.
• In February 2024, Wojciech Szeląg, a television host with Poland’s state broadcaster brought Polish LGBTQI+ activists on the show and publicly apologised on-air for the “shameful” LGBTQI+ hate spread by the Polish media and government over the past few years.
• Legislative gaps have begun to be filled, such as the new inclusion of “sexual orientation” in the hate crime and hate speech provisions of the Polish Criminal Code, and the drafting of a civil union bill.

However, while the government’s general position toward LGBTQI+ rights and protections is improving, public attitudes toward LGBTQI+ citizens and residents are still divided throughout Poland. Despite positive developments, Poland continues to rank last among European Union countries in LGBTQI+ legal protections, as highlighted in ILGA-Europe’s annual report.

Judgment of the Supreme Court in the case II KK 333/17 of 14 June 2018

A print shop employee refused to print promotional materials for an LGBTQI+ foundation and justified their refusal with a reluctance to contribute to the “promotion of LGBT movement rights”.

This was considered an offense. The Supreme Court clearly emphasized the anti-discriminatory role of Article 138 of the Code of Petty Offenses which penalized the refusal to provide a service without a justified reason.

Following this judgment, the Prosecutor General submitted a motion to the Constitutional Tribunal to declare Article 138 of the Code of Petty Offenses as unconstitutional in part, arguing that it is excessively repressive and constitutes an unjustified interference in the sphere of individual freedom.

In the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal in case K 16/17 of 26 June 2019, the Tribunal stated that Article 138 of the Code of Petty Offenses, insofar as it penalizes the refusal to provide a service without a justified reason, is inconsistent with Article 2 of the Polish Constitution.

Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court in the case II OSK 1112/16 of 28 February 2018 

The Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the cassation complaint regarding the refusal to transcribe a foreign marriage certificate of two women. The Supreme Administrative Court referred to Article 12 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, according to which men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and to find a family, in accordance with the national laws governing the exercise of this right. In the opinion of the Supreme Administrative Court, the transcription of the marriage certificate of two women would be contrary to the fundamental principles of the legal order of the Republic of Poland. According to the Court, Article 18 of the Constitution, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, implies a principle that mandates treating only heterosexual unions as marriages in Poland.

Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court in the case II OSK 2552/16 of 10 October 2018

The Supreme Administrative Court set aside the contested judgment of the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Kraków and a decision to refuse to transcribe a British birth certificate listing two Polish mothers as parents. The lower court and administrative authorities had cited public order and the Family and Guardianship Code, which does not recognize same-sex parenthood, as grounds for the refusal.

The Supreme Administrative Court stated that the refusal to transcribe the birth certificate, thereby denying the child a document confirming their identity and citizenship, does not comply with the Civil Status Records Act and constitutes a violation of the child’s rights guaranteed by the Polish Constitution and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court in the case II OSK 1868/16 of 30 October 2018

The Supreme Administrative Court of Poland confirmed the right to Polish citizenship of a child born via surrogacy in the United States and raised by two fathers, one of whom is a Polish citizen.

The lower court had denied its citizenship, citing the inability to establish their descent from Polish parents under the Polish Family and Guardianship Code, which does not recognize surrogacy or same-sex parenthood. The Supreme Administrative Court, however, emphasized that the right to Polish citizenship for eligible persons follows from the Polish Constitution and is acquired as a matter of law. The court clarified that the case solely concerned the confirmation of the child’s citizenship, rendering the lower court’s considerations on surrogacy and same-sex parenthood irrelevant.

The court also noted that citizenship is a human right and a special bond between an individual and the state, governed solely by public law. Consequently, the child acquired Polish citizenship at birth by virtue of their parent’s Polish nationality.