LGBT-free zones in Poland
Around 30% of towns in Poland are now LGBT-free zones. To illustrate this differently, around 100 municipalities or an area larger than the size of Hungary, condemns LGBT identities within Poland. This means that within these areas, people are not allowed to publicly display an LGBT status. Consequently, there has been an exponential rise in violence by anti-LGBT groups. These groups demonstrate their discrimination towards LGBT groups by burning rainbow flags, reciting hate-speeches and by throwing bricks at people attending Pride marches.
This has been made possible through the Polish constitution which mandates the “protection of the family.” Through this declaration, the Catholic Church is capable of exhibiting LGBT identities as unnatural and against what the family life should consist of. Alongside the Archbishop, conservative right-wing parties further describe this as an LGBT “ideology”. Describing LGBT as being an “ideology” exposes the toxic perceptions conservative groups have. They believe LGBT communties are people with bad intentions, people who seek to destroy heterosexual identities. What is more is that these politicians will argue that their LGBT-free zones simply “promote” [3:15] traditional family values. Despite the European Parliament passing a resolution to denounce these LGBT-free concepts, these hate groups have continued to grow.
Anti-LGBT groups justify their attitudes and actions by claiming that LGBT identities hurt Christian values. What is crucial to understanding these loathing attitudes is that attacking LGBT communities in Poland has a long history. Government officials as well as the public media have openly expressed their disapproval for LGBT identities and publicly attacked movements such as the Rainbow Friday Pride march for years. Hate-groups have built their anti-LGBT beliefs by asserting that their culture and civilisation are based upon heterosexual identities only. More so, conservatives insist that they must protect their traditions and their futures. In doing so, this has constructed the belief that if an individual is outisde of the heterosexual identity, they will not be accepted into society. This causes two consequences. First, indifferent individuals may feel obliged to reciprocate anti-LGBT beliefs and attitudes. Secondly, individuals who do identify as LGBT will refrain from expressing themselves truthfully in a bid to avoid social discomfort. Even though both of these responses to hate-groups provide social protection to an individual, they also reproduce anti-LGBT views at a society level.
This has caused enormous consequences to both individuals and communities. Within these LGBT-free zones, because religious and political leaders are condeming LGBT identities, residents are being encouraged to uphold aggressive attitudes, discrimination and violence towards them. As a result of these attacks, people who do identify as LGBT have reported they do not feel safe within their own communities. They feel unequal in society and are depicted as threats not only by their communities, but by family and friends as well. Therefore, it is common for LGBT people to move to larger cities where they are able to hide their sexual or gender identity.
Personal stories of affected individuals
It is not so easy for individuals within small LGBT-free communities to live comfortably. A 38-year old living in Rzeszow, south-east Poland, explains his reality.
“You are accompanied by a constant fear of physical violence, compounded by a stuffy atmosphere and verbal aggression. And you are aware that in case violence happens, you are dependent only on yourself and associations operating in other cities. You know that the police will consider violence for homophobic reasons as unimportant.”
“So you adapt to the reality of Rzeszow. There is always anxiety in the back of your head. You maintain superficial social contacts with most people because you assume in advance that they are homophobic. You wonder […] who will laugh at you and who will give you a passive-aggressive lecture. And what these people would be capable of in an extreme historical moment.”
Alicja highlights her struggle of being the only openly queer person in her community. She expresses the difficult position she has put on her family and friends. And in addition, she lives with a constant feeling of unsafety as conservative groups know where she lives.
Bart illustrates [2:07] how harmful and unjust homophobic views are by contending that nuclear family values are excluding other identities. He further describes how by allowing LGBT-free zones to exist, the government is not protecting all citizens. Additionally, he too expresses his fears of being followed by police.
Nevertheless, there are movements against LGBT-free zones who continue to fight for their rights. In front of one LGBT-free municipality, a group released pictures of gay people. This initiative sought to undermine the horror that is exhibited by homophobic groups. Another activist group has created an Atlas of Hate map that highlights hate-group areas across the country. Another approach has been to call upon human rights laws through the European Commission. The non-discrimination law states that any form of discrimination including sexual orientation is prohibited. However, it is a slow process. Even if and when LGBT-free laws are amended, cultural and anti-LGBT perceptions will likely remain a stringent part of society for some time. A group in France has also unanimously voted to suspend its relations with Tuchow, an LGBT-free zone in Poland because of its attitudes towards LGBT identities. An international affect like this sends a strong impact to members of the targeted community. Likewise, the organisation “All Out” is currently launching a global campaign to call out Polish politicians who are continuing to support anti-LGBT groups. In combination, we can see that within Poland and across the globe there are groups of support. Even with LGBT-free zones, residents of Poland will not simply change their identities. Pro-LGBT movements continue to rally and they will continue to do so to fight for their equality.
Written by volunteer Cristina Vara Almirall