Poland’s government announced a plan to extend the criminalization of hate speech towards hate speech directed at individuals based on sexual orientation, gender, age, and disability in a move with few precedents worldwide, according to LGBTQ Nation. The country already had protections against hate speech, which contrasts with the United States, where hate speech isn’t criminalized individually, only when accompanied by threats of violence or violent crimes, but the law previously only protected against hate speech based on ethnicity, race, nationality, and religion.
The plan to extend protections against hate speech was approved by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and will now move to Parliament where it is similarly expected to pass. Incumbent President Andrzej Duda, who is on the final year of his term, is not expected to pass the legislation according to LGBTQ Nation, considering his history with the conservative, nationalist Law and Justice Party. He has frequently opposed LGBTQ+ civil rights, including pledges to ban gay couples from marrying or adopting, and describing LGBTQ+ ideology as “destructive to man,” according to BBC.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association, or the ILGA, compiles a yearly review of LGBTQ+ rights in Europe, evaluating each country and assigning a percentage based on laws and policies that directly impact LGBTQ+ individuals. Europe on average scored 42% in the latest report, with European Union members scoring 50.6%.
The highest country ranked in the latest poll was Iceland with an 83%, but Poland has historically been the worst performing member of the E.U. with a 17.5% on the most recent Rainbow Map. Many of the country’s issues with LGBTQ+ discrimination come from the Law and Justice Party’s time in power, including the establishment of “LGBT Free” zones primarily in 2019, according to LGBTQ Nation.
Regardless, the country’s move to begin bans on LGBTQ+ hate speech signal the beginning of a more progressive Poland, among other news this year including the Polish Supreme Court ruling that same-gender marriage is not illegal as per the country’s constitution.
