Brussels wins a round in the standoff between it and Poland over the situation of LGBT + people. The Polish region of Sainte-Croix (south) gave up on Wednesday September 22 to declare itself “Zone without LGBT ideology”, during a regional assembly broadcast live online.
In mid-July, the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Poland for “Areas without LGBT ideology” decreed by a number of local authorities, regions and municipalities, including the voivodeship (administrative region) of Sainte-Croix, of which Kielce is the capital.
The European executive, which denounced the discriminatory nature of these measures against LGBT + people, sent Poland a letter of formal notice. Brussels also suspended negotiations with five regions concerned over the disbursement of funds from the recovery support program in favor of React-EU cohesion.
A third of the territory has “anti-LGBT ideology” resolutions
At the exceptional session of the Sainte-Croix regional assembly, 25 councilors approved the decision to withdraw from the controversial statement, no one objected, and three councilors abstained from voting. On Monday, the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (south), of which Krakow is the capital, must consider a similar approach.
In Poland, around 100 local authorities have adopted a resolution since 2019 “Anti-LGBT ideology” or a “Charter of the rights of families”. They represent about a third of Polish territory and are located mainly in the south-east and east of the country, traditionally very Catholic areas.
Brussels then called for respect for dignity and human rights, which are “Fundamental values of the EU”, and assured that the Commission will use all the instruments at its disposal to defend these values. Ursula von der Leyen, for her part, castigated “Zones without humanity”, who “Have no place” in the EU.