A bill called ‘Stop LGBT’ was submitted to the Polish parliament on Monday, November 9 by the Life and Family Foundation after amassing over 200,000 signatures of support. The citizen’s legislative initiative – a type of bill that can be submitted by the public so long as it receives 100,000 signatures – received a strong backing from many, including parts of the country’s powerful Catholic Church, which allowed it to be taken to parliament. If successful, the bill would ban any public LGBTQ+ Pride events or gatherings which are seen to promote ‘LGBTQ+ ideology’.
The bill states: “The #StopLGBT project is aimed at ensuring that the constitutional principle of family protection is included in the practice of holding public gatherings, so that public space is free from homopropaganda, and citizens do not have to watch hideous shows on their streets.” It also referred to Pride parades as: “exhibitionism, public scandal, profanation, provocations, insults of Catholic symbols, clergy and lay faithful, ridicule of the emblem, flag and other national symbols”.
The EU recently introduced an initiative to provide greater protections for LGBTQ+ citizens in countries such as Poland and Hungary which have seen increased hostility towards the queer community in recent years. Helena Dalli, the European commissioner for equality, said: “Equality is the value of the EU, if you’re going against the value, then the EU should not fund you.” However, November 11 saw thousands attend a far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ protest in Warsaw, illustrating the widespread discrimination against Poland’s queer community.
