LGBT activists win case against ‘LGBT-Free Zones’ in Poland

An appeals court in the Polish city of Białystok threw out a case brought by Przasnysz county authorities against four LGBT rights activists who founded the “Atlas of Hate” project. 

This is the first final verdict in favor of the activists who are facing multiple lawsuits for drawing international attention to Poland’s discriminatory “LGBT-Free Zones”.

The Atlas of Hate is an interactive map of Poland showing provinces, towns, and municipalities across the country where local authorities have adopted discriminatory “family charters” pledging to “protect children from moral corruption” or declared themselves free from “LGBT ideology”.

Seven of the nearly 100 localities with these anti-LGBT policies sued the Atlas of Hate founders for defamation, demanding public apologies and 280,000 zloty (US$64,000) for calling their regions “LGBT-Free Zones”. 

As Poland’s courts side with the Atlas of Hate activists, it’s clear local authorities only aim to have a chilling effect on human rights defenders and suppress criticism of anti-LGBT resolutions. The Polish authorities should drop remaining lawsuits against LGBT activists and finally repeal all discriminatory resolutions.

Congratulations!!!

Approximately 1/3 of Poland is officially declared "LGBT free zone"