The EU Voted to Declare Itself an LGBT Freedom Zone, and Poland is Pissed
By Jacob Gelman
On March 11th, the European Union voted by a large majority to support a symbolic resolution declaring land within the 27 member states as an “LGBT Freedom Zone.” With 492 votes in favor and 141 against, the resolution passed through with overwhelming support and little pushback.
The initiative is largely symbolic and holds little to no legislative authority. It simply serves as a way to project support for LGBT people living within the European Union. It was started by the group LGBTI Intergroup as a way to combat Poland’s recent attacks on the LGBT community.
March marks the two-year anniversary since the first Polish town passed a resolution declaring it an LGBT-free zone, protecting “traditional” family values and creating an environment free of “LGBT Ideology.” Since then, more than 100 towns in Poland followed suit — declaring themselves LGBT-free zones as well. Although these resolutions serve as a largely symbolic rejection of queer people in Poland, they also serve to codify discriminatory and pejorative attitudes towards queer people in these zones.
Poland serves as a largely Catholic country and has defended against these zones by claiming that they are simply working to protect families. Moreover, they responded to this most recent measure by arguing that it oversteps the European Union’s jurisdictional authority.
Ryszard Legutko is a lawmaker that serves as a member of Poland’s ruling conservative party. He is also a prominent advocate of these LGBT free resolutions. In response to the resolution, he declared, “It is our right to defend families. We cannot have this right infringed upon.”
Despite this, due to the work of protestors in the region, local towns in Poland stopped passing such resolutions a few months back, and many have also begun to repeal theirs. Whether this most recent action by the European Union adds to this process remains to be seen.
Jacob Gelman is one of the creators of Nesh Magazine. He is President of Nesh’s Board of Directors and serves as a staff writer for the publication.
