Poland abolishes last remaining ‘LGBT-free’ zone in the country

Poland has officially abolished its last remaining “LGBT-free” zone in the country in a win for queer rights, six years after the policy was first introduced.Officials in Łańcut, a town in the south-east of the country, voted on Thursday (24 April) to repeal the regulation, as per TVP World. The zones were initially introduced by the former right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government, which lost office in 2023.

In 2019, around 100 local municipalities in Poland stated that their constituency is “LGBT-free” or banned “LGBT ideology”. Local authorities in the areas pledged to discourage tolerance and stopped providing funding for non-governmental organisations (NGOS) that promoted equal rights.However, the European Commission withheld funding from such regions on the grounds that they were enforcing discriminatory policies within the zones, while the “LGBT-free” zones also garnered criticism from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.



This resulted in several zones having a change of heart. @pinknews Poland has now abolished the last remaining ‘LGBT-free zone’ in the country. The town council of Łańcut, in southeastern Poland was the last area to bring an end to the zones.

There were previously around 100 local authorities that declared ‘LGBT-free zones’. However human rights organisations and the EU opposed the zones resulting in suspending cohesion funds for regions that passed introducing the zones. In 2022, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the declarations infringed upon the dignity and private lives of certain groups of residents.

Now the final zone has been abolished in 2025. #poland #lgbtqia #europe #humanrights #gayrights ♬ Minimal for news / news suspense(1169746) – Hiraoka Kotaro The European Parliament also passed a resolution at the time to condemn the zones, describing the measures as part of “a broader context of attacks against the LGBTI community in Poland, which include growing hate speech by public and elected officials and public media, as well as attacks and bans on Pride marches and actions such as Rainbow Friday”.In 2022, a top Polish appeals court ruled that four of the zones must be abolished.

That same year, the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) ruled that the “LGBT-free” resolutions were a “violation of the dignity, honour, good name and closely related private life of a specific group of residents”. The NSA also added that the Polish state must protect all citizens, including minority groups.Recently, the country’s president sent an anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech bill to the Constitutional Tribunal for consideration, after President Andrzej Duda had concerns that the measures would violate the constitutional right to free speech, as per Notes from Poland.

If passed, the measures would be updated to include sexual orientation, gender, age and disability into the country’s hate crime laws, which already make public insult based on national, ethnic, racial or religious affiliation” illegal, and carry a jail term of up to three years. Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.The post Poland abolishes last remaining ‘LGBT-free’ zone in the country appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.

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