Poland has for years been ranked as one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ places in Europe by campaigners (Picture: Piotr Lapinski/NurPhoto)
The nearly decade-long ‘nightmare’ LGBTQ+ Poles have lived under the ruling right-wing party could be over after Sunday’s knife-edge election.
Law and Justice, an anti-LGBTQ+ party known by its Polish acronym PiS, has been in power since 2015.
But Monday exit polls suggest that centrist and progressive parties – including the opposition group Civic Coalition, known as KO in Poland – seem on course to end PiS rule.
As much as PiS came on top of the vote share at 36.6%, the centrist alliance tailed at 31%, with the centre-right party Third Way following at 13.5%, The Left alliance with 8.6% and the far-right Confederation with 6.4%.
This means the three top opposition parties would have a majority of seats in the 460-member parliament if they form a coalition, with PiS’ votes translating to 198 seats.
Civic Coalition leader Donald Tusk declared victory Sunday night, telling supporters: ‘This is the end of this bad time! This is the end of PiS rule!’
Voters turned out in record droves for the closely-watched election (Picture: Getty Images Europe/Omar Marques)
The dramatic upset has all but plunged PiS’ hopes of a third consecutive term into uncertainty ahead of the official results expected tomorrow.
Until then, LGBTQ+ people in Poland are tentatively breathing a sign of relief, Grupa Stonewall an LGBTQ+ group in the Wielkopolska region founded only months before PiS won the 2015 parliamentary election, said.
It told Metro.co.uk: ‘We are definitely feeling a huge sense of relief. Law and Justice rule has been a nightmare for LGBTQ+ people, and all signs point to it coming to an end after eight years.
‘There is an atmosphere of joy.’
ILGA-Europe, an international queer rights organisation, has for years ranked Poland as one of the most homophobic countries in the EU.
PiS was catapulted to parliament on a campaign initially targeting migrants but shifted to making LGBTQ+ people public enemy number one for its 2019 election.
Polish president Andrzej Duda, of the PiS party, won the election in 2020 after a platform targeting ‘LGBT ideology’ (Picture: Reuters)
Under PiS rule, the queer community watched as politicians claimed ‘LGBT ideology’ posed a threat to Roman Catholic values and the country’s identity.
Lawmakers have worked to dismantle trans rights, push a Russia-style ‘gay propaganda’ ban bill and outlaw LGBTQ+ Pride marches.
The government banned same-sex adoption – complete with vetting single-parent houses in case they live with someone of the same gender.
Poland’s right-wing populist president Andrzej Duda said in 2020 that ‘LGBT are not people; they are an ideology,’ one worse than communism.
Party leader Jarosław Kaczyński said the following year: ‘LGBT ideology… radically limit[s] the freedom of a great number of people who are terrorised to accept this ideology’.
Politicians and religious leaders have also referred to LGBTQ+ people, among other things, as ‘a parade of sodomites’, ‘paedophiles’ and a ‘rainbow plague’.
The government has cracked down on LGBTQ+ rights (Picture: Reuters)
While in 2020, more than 100 municipalities – about a third of Poland – declared themselves as ‘LGBT-free zones’.
Grupa Stonewall said that PiS’ likely defeat could pave the way for LGBTQ+ rights, including marriage equality – a policy ‘unimaginable’ only days ago, it added.
‘As for the potential new government – it is not certain that changing the situation of LGBT+ people in Poland will be among its priorities,’ the group admitted.
‘The Civic Platform ruled Poland from 2007 to 2015 and did nothing for us then.
‘But that was then, now it is today.’
According to a survey by pollster Ipsos for the news website OKO.press, a growing majority of people in Poland back marriage equality.
Younger left-wing voters in the deeply divided nation tend to be more pro-LGBTQ+, the poll suggested, compared to older, more conservative people.
Duda vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for trans people to change their legal genders (Picture: AP)
Grupa Stonewall says that Nowa Lewica, known as the New Left, is among the most progressive parties in Poland. Part of The Left coalition, it has ‘consistently championed social justice, environmental protection, and LGBT+ rights’.
The Civic Alliance – comprising the liberal Civic Platform, Greens, Modern and Polish Initiative – ‘support civil partnerships but lack specifics on rights and responsibilities’, Grupa Stonewall said in an Instagram post on October 13.
A victory for PiS, however, would be a ‘major setback’ for the community.
Speaking today, the group said it hopes that the victorious parties will keep up with the views of the electorate, with nearly 73% of eligible voters going to the polls in the highest turnout since the end of communist rule.
‘The climate around LGBTQ+ demands has changed significantly,’ Grupa Stonewall said.
‘It looks like we are closer to introducing at least a law on civil unions, which was in the official election program of the Civic Coalition.
Support for LGBTQ+ rights has gradually been on the rise (Picture: Piotr Lapinski/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
‘There is no doubt that most Poles support it.’
PiS-backed president Duda gets to decide which parties and alliances get a first crack at forming a coalition government, which traditionally goes to the one which has bagged the highest number of seats (in this case, PiS).
Duda’s pick will have only two weeks to cobble together a government, but it seems PiS doesn’t have many options to clinch power. One of its potential coalition partners, the Polish People’s Party (PSL), has firmly ruled out a deal.
Until Poland knows for sure who will govern the nation for the next five years, Grupa Stonewall remains hopeful.
‘As a community, we are preparing to enforce from politicians what we have been fighting for years,’ the campaign group said.
‘Finally, the conditions for this are in place.’
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