‘Anti-LGBT’ or ‘pro-family’?

“In relation to the aggressive homosexual propaganda, promoted and conducted as part of the ideological war by leftist-liberal political circles and ‘LGBT’ groups, which are threatening our fundamental norms and the values of our social and national life, our council adopts the declaration ‘Powiat Rycki free of gender ideology and LGBT,’” reads one of the resolutions, passed in April 2019 by the local council in Ryki, a town 100 kilometres southeast of Warsaw.

The resolution says its purpose is to “defend children, youth, families and Polish schools from sexual depravity and indoctrination, which lead to many pathologies already existing in Western countries, such as accepting pornography, abortion, sexual criminality, the crisis of the family and many others”.

The declaration decries the “promotion of homosexuality” and sexual education in schools, the “early sexualisation of children” promoted by the World Health Organisation, the “pressure exercised by homopropaganda” and the “imposition by LGBT activists of […] programmes and an ideology leading to the depravation of children”.

[The resolution aims to] defend children, youth, families and Polish schools from sexual depravity and indoctrination, which lead to many pathologies already existing in Western countries, such as accepting pornography, abortion, sexual criminality, the crisis of the family and many others. – Ryki local council resolution

While many local councils such as the one in Ryki came up with their own resolutions opposing “LGBT ideology” or “LGBT propaganda”, 34 municipalities have adopted a more mildly formulated “Municipal Charter of Family Rights”, proposed by Ordo Iuris, a prominent legal conservative group based in Warsaw. In the past months, activists have noted local councils increasingly rely on the Ordo Iuris version.

The “pro-family” charter steers clear of any reference to “LGBT ideology” or even LGBT people, proposing instead that municipalities streamline the protection of the traditional family — namely, heterosexual parents and their children — in all policies including in school activities and distribution of public funds, which fall under the remit of local municipalities.

“This charter could be called a ‘soft’ measure undertaken with the purpose of creating in Poland a ‘pro-family’ culture, or even we could say to put the family in fashion,” Pawel Kwasniak, coordinator of the family charter project for Ordo Iuris, told BIRN. “Each action undertaken by the municipality should be assessed from the point of view of how it impacts the family.”

Another goal is to “defend children from demoralisation and depravity”, said Kwasniak, who conceded that the charter is a response to what Ordo Iuris considers “the threat posed by LGBT ideology”.

Unlike the other resolutions, the Ordo Iuris charter suggests concrete measures that local councils can implement, such as giving parents control over extra-curricular activities conducted by non-governmental organisations in schools, assessing NGO projects financed by the municipality on the basis of their impact on families, or appointing a “family ombudsman” to ensure “family rights” are respected.

“The Municipal Charter of Family Rights looks like it has neutral language and is geared more towards supporting the family than discriminating against LGBTQ people,” Jakub Gawron, a human rights activist involved in monitoring the resolutions, told BIRN. “But in fact, it is a more dangerous tool than resolutions ‘against LGBT ideology’, which are not translatable into the language of local law.

“When issuing opinions on new legal acts, the local ombudsman for families will exclude organisations that ‘harm the value of family and marriage’ from all local government projects. The excluded organisations will not be able to consult or carry out public tasks in the field of education. They will lose the opportunity to use public property and apply for grants and other forms of financial support.”

The purpose of the resolutions, according to Gawron, is “to cease all anti-discrimination and pro-equality measures”.

“Such resolutions, combined with conformism, fear and lack of legal knowledge, can be an effective way of symbolically excluding non-heteronormative people from public space,” he said. “For starters, from areas directly under state supervision such as educational institutions.”

Kwasniak from Ordo Iuris refuted criticism that the charter could be discriminatory against LGBT people.

“If read with good will, it is clear that the charter is not meant to exclude from society people with a different sexual orientation, but to press authorities to support families,” he said.

Kwasniak added that the charter defends Poland’s “legal and axiological order, the axiological order of the Christian world”. He said the Polish constitution mandates protection of the family.

But 38-year old Gawron, who lives in Rzeszow in southeastern Poland, has a different view.

“You are accompanied by a constant fear of physical violence, compounded by a stuffy atmosphere and verbal aggression,” he said. “And you are aware that in case violence happens, you are dependent only on yourself and associations operating in other cities. You know that the police will consider violence for homophobic reasons as unimportant.

“So you adapt to the reality of Rzeszow. There is always anxiety in the back of your head. You maintain superficial social contacts with most people because you assume in advance that they are homophobic. You wonder […] who will laugh at you and who will give you a passive-aggressive lecture. And what these people would be capable of in an extreme historical moment.”