Poland’s top court upholds lower court rulings that annulled anti-LGBT resolutions, known as “LGBT-free zones”, that had been adopted by local authorities.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Poland face legal challenges not faced by non-LGBT residents. According to ILGA-Europe’s 2021 report, the status of LGBTQ rights in Poland is the worst among European Union countries. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in Poland since 1932.
Poland’s highest administrative court has ruled that resolutions adopted by local authorities declaring themselves free from “LGBT ideology” were rightly annulled by lower courts. In 2019, nearly 100 local authorities in Poland, most under the control of the ruling Law, adopted anti-LGBT resolutions or “Family Charters” pledging to protect the traditional family model. However, Poland’s then human rights commissioner, Adam Bodnar, challenged a number of the resolutions in court, argued that they violate the rights of LGBT people in a manner contrary to both Polish and European law. A series of lower-court rulings have upheld his arguments and annulled the resolutions.
Then, the lower court had correctly found that the “resolution violates the dignity, honor and good name, as well as the private life, of a specific group of residents, who identify as LGBT”, on the same day, the court issued three similar rulings, dismissing appeals against the annulment of anti-LGBT resolutions in Klwow, Istebna and Osiek. Together, the four cases are the first legally binding final rulings overturning such resolutions.