Poland no longer ranked worst country in EU for LGBT+ people

Poland is no longer ranked as the worst country in the European Union for LGBT+ people, the first time since 2019 that it is not at the bottom of the ranking.

However, the country still has the EU’s second-lowest score – above only Romania – in the annual Rainbow Map published by ILGA-Europe, a Brussels-based NGO.

Poland’s score – which takes account of the legal, political and social environment for LGBT+ people – rose from 17.5% last year to 20.5% now. Romania, meanwhile, fell slightly from 18.86% to 18.63%.

Eight non-EU countries scored even lower, with Russia (2%), Azerbaijan (2.25%) and Turkey (4.75%) propping up the ranking. At the other end of the scale, Malta (88.83%), Belgium (85.31%) and Iceland (84.06%) had the highest scores.

Previously, under the rule of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government, which led a vociferous campaign against what it called “LGBT ideology”, Poland fell to a low of just over 13% in 2022.

However, since a new, more liberal government was elected in 2023, the country has gradually risen in the ranking, despite the new administration so far failing to introduce promised reforms to improve LGBT+ rights.

The one area where ILGA-Europe’s scoring for Poland has improved is in its category of “civil society space”. The NGO notes, for example, that the last three years have not seen state obstruction of LGBT+ events, as happened in the past.

“Last year, over 35 marches were organised across Poland and almost all of them were held peacefully,” wrote the organisation in its report. “However, the protection of these events is not adequate…[and] a few incidents during marches did not face a strong and determined reaction from the police”.

Meanwhile, ILGA-Europe also notes that all of the anti-LGBT+ resolutions introduced by over 100 local authorities in Poland in 2019 and 2020 have now been withdrawn. The last one was repealed last month.

However, the organisation continues to give Poland a score of zero in its categories of “hate crime and hate speech” – where LGBT+ people have no specific protections – and “family”, with Poland having no laws recognising same-sex marriage or partnerships, nor adoption rights.

When the current ruling coalition came to power in December 2023, it pledged to expand hate crime laws to cover sexual orientation and gender identity. Legislation to that effect was approved by the cabinet last November and passed by parliament in March.

However, conservative president Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, refused to sign the bill into law, instead sending it to the constitutional court – another body aligned with the opposition – for consideration.

Meanwhile, plans by two of the main groups in Poland’s ruling coalition to introduce same-sex civil partnerships have failed so far to even reach parliament amid opposition from more conservative elements in the coalition.

Main image credit: ILGA Europe