A Polish magazine has included "LGBT-free zone" stickers inside its weekly edition amid rising tensions between LGBT activists and a conservative Christian movement supported by the country's right-wing ruling party.

Key points: The campaign has divided social media, with both widespread support and condemnation

The campaign has divided social media, with both widespread support and condemnation The ruling right-wing Law and Justice Party has been outspoken against what it calls "LGBT ideology"

The ruling right-wing Law and Justice Party has been outspoken against what it calls "LGBT ideology" Thirty towns have been declared "LGBT-ideology free" in Poland's conservative south-east

The Gazeta Polska first tweeted a preview of the stickers — showing a black cross over a rainbow flag with the words "LGBT-free zone" written in Polish — to be included inside their June 24 edition last wee

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The conservative publication reportedly has a readership of 110,000.

"We do not protest against the LGBT ideology, but we do strongly disagree on imposing it by force on anybody," said Gazeta Polska's editor in chief Tomasz Sakiewicz, in a statement to the ABC.

Activists and some politicians criticised the move, saying the stickers promote hatred and intolerance and could incite violence against the LGBT community.

Cecylia Jakubczak, of Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (KPH) — which translates to Campaign Against Homophobia in Polish — said the stickers will affect the LGBT community in Poland "both physically and psychologically".

"The message that it sends is pretty much straightforward: There is no place for LGBT people in Poland," she told the ABC.

But Mr Sakiewicz defended the campaign, saying the publication upholds free speech and opposes censorship.

"The LGBT ideology-free zone is a zone of freedom of speech, tolerance and respect for people who think differently," he said.

Activists said "the stickers promote hatred and intolerance" against the LGBT community. ( Reuters: Agencja Gazeta/Agnieszka Sadowska )

'Being an activist does not make anyone more tolerant'

The announcement of the campaign last week ignited a social media storm with both widespread support and condemnation — and many calling for a stop to the distribution and printing of the stickers.

Paweł Rabiej, the deputy mayor of Warsaw, said he had filed a complaint to the prosecutor's office.

"German fascists created Jew-free zones," he tweeted, comparing the move to the beginning of Nazi actions against Europe's Jewish population and South Africa's apartheid.

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One user tweeted an illustration of a gun with a cross pointed at a man in a rainbow t-shirt.

"Do not even try to convince me that Christianity is a religion of peace, openness, tolerance and loving all people," the tweet said.

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Georgette Mosbacher, the US ambassador to Poland, tweeted that she was "disappointed and worried that some groups use stickers to promote hatred and intolerance".

"We respect freedom of speech, but we must collectively stand on the side of values such as diversity and tolerance," she wrote.

In response, Gazeta Polska's editor, Mr Sakiewicz, tweeted that "being an activist in the gay movement does not make anyone more tolerant".

"Poles love freedom and have known the word tolerance for centuries," he added.

In his statement to the ABC, Mr Sakiewicz said while "homosexual people have the full right to live a normal life and to enjoy their rights fully", the LGBT movement — which he likened to Communism and Nazism — is seeking to "destroy the traditional society, fight religion and restrict freedom of speech".

"The LGBT symbol has recently become inseparable from the mockery of faith, attacks on Christian temples and the humiliation of Catholics," he said.

"Let us respect people, let us respect homosexuals, but let us oppose the madness that deprives people of their fundamental rights."

LGBT activists hit back with 'hate-free zones'

Campaign Against Homophobia created "hate-free zone" stickers in response to the Gazeta Polska campaign. ( Supplied: Kampania Przeciw Homofobii )

In response to the "LGBT-free zone" campaign, KPH printed 5,000 "hate-free zone" stickers to be distributed with Replika — the only LGBT magazine in Poland.

The design is also available for free download on the KPH website.

"We have already received a lot of photos of 'hate-free zone' stickers taped to doors or windows," Ms Jakubczak said.

But amid the support they have received, Ms Jakubczak said the scale of violence towards LGBT people in Poland was "alarming".

A 2013 report published by KPH found 70 per cent of Poland's LGBT community were victims of some form of violence.

According to a 2017 poll by the Public Opinion Research Centre (CBOS), 79 per cent of Poles at the time viewed homosexuality as "a deviation from the norm", while 55 per cent added they believed it should be tolerated.

Of those interviewed, 62 per cent said LGBT people should not be allowed to "publicly express their way of life".

Government officials push for LGBT-free zones

Tensions have been mounting in Poland between a burgeoning rights movement and a conservative backlash led by some church leaders and the ruling right-wing Law and Justice Party, which took power in 2015.

In March, Senator Stanisław Karczewski tweeted an image of an umbrella with the ruling party logo protecting a family from rainbow rain, saying, "We will defend the Polish family".

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Last week, after Warsaw's Mayor advocated adding LGBT awareness to school sex education curriculums in accordance with UN recommendations, ruling party leader Jarosław Kaczyński labelled his calls "an attack on the family and children".

"These ideologies, philosophies, all of this is imported," Mr Kaczynski said at a Catholic Action conference last week.

"They are a threat to Polish identity, to our nation, to its existence and thus to the Polish state."

Regional party officials have also pushed to declare cities and even entire provinces in the country's conservative south-east "LGBT-ideology free".

Ms Jakubczak said at least 30 towns, villages and regional assemblies have so far followed suit.

The first LGBT rights march held in the eastern city of Bialystok ended in violence. ( AP )

On Saturday, the first LGBT rights march held in the eastern city of Bialystok ended in violence.

Ms Jakubczak said a crowd of thousands attacked march participants.

"Kicking, shoving, spitting, a hailstorm of bottles and stones, exploding firecrackers, a unison of throats shouting 'f**k fa***ts'," she said, describing the scene.

National police said 28 "hooligans" were detained and charged with disturbing a legal gathering after they tried to block the march, with some throwing bottles and rocks at the marchers.