The European Parliament on Wednesday is expected to debate a resolution that would declare the 27 member countries of the European Union a “zone of freedom” for LGBT people.
The Associated Press reports that the motion comes largely as a response to communities in Poland, a member of the EU, adopting symbolic resolutions that declare themselves free from what conservative politicians call “LGBT ideology”. Cities claim to be defending their Catholic values, but LGBT activists say these resolutions are discriminatory and designed to make the gay community feel unwelcome.
The resolution was made by the EU’s multiparty group, LGBTI Intergroup, which said it had sufficient support to pass the resolution. The measure will also address issues facing gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, intersex and queers in the EU.
Liesje Schreinemacher, a Dutch lawmaker and vice president of LGBTI Intergroup, told the AP that the resolution was roughly timed to mark the second anniversary of the first Polish community by passing an anti-LGBT resolution.
“We wanted to send a strong signal to Poland that we consider the whole of Europe to be an LGBTI freedom zone,” said Schreinemacher. “But all European countries have work to do.”
The AP reports that Poland’s local anti-LGBT resolutions have damaged its international image, as well as the finances of local communities, with the EU and Norway, a non-member country, blocking funds due to what they consider to be discriminatory policies.
In September last year, ambassadors from 50 countries, including the United States, signed an open letter questioning the Polish government’s commitment to LGBT rights due to concerns about repression by President Andrzej Duda’s government.
“We pay tribute to the hard work of LGBTI and other communities in Poland and around the world, as well as the work of all those who seek to guarantee human rights for LGBTI and other people belonging to communities facing similar challenges, and to end the discrimination in particular on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, ”the letter said.
At the time, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denied that LGBT people in Poland were being restricted or threatened, saying that tolerance was part of “Polish DNA”.
According to a classification by ILGA-Europe, an LGBT advocacy group, Poland currently ranks 42nd out of 49 European countries in terms of laws that respect the human rights of LGBT people.