European LGBTI activists demand changes from the Polish authorities | ILGA-Europe

Statement signed by participants at ILGA-Europe’s 2017 Annual Conference in Warsaw. 

We the participants of the ILGA-Europe 2017 Annual Conference express our concerns regarding the situation of LGBTI people in Poland. 

Discrimination and violence towards LGBTI people prevails. Human rights violations prevent LGBTI people from full participation in social, professional and family life. Additionally, recent attacks on LGBTI organisations illustrate the rise of hate in our society and a disturbing phenomenon of shrinking space for civil society, which is worrying not only for minority groups but also for a democratic society.

At the same time, as ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Europe shows, Poland has one of the lowest scores among EU countries, providing hardly any legal protection for the rights of LGBTI people and against discrimination.

There are approximately 2,000,000 LGBTI people living in Poland. They, like LGBTI people elsewhere, deserve full enjoyment of their human rights. They deserve to live in safe and accepting environments. They deserve to have opportunities that are currently not available for them in Poland due to discrimination, violence and social stigma.

Therefore, we call on Polish authorities to take action to improve the situation of LGBTI people living in Poland, both through appropriate legislative initiatives and working towards increasing social acceptance for LGBTI people. Moreover, we urge the Polish authorities to refrain from any actions that lead to the shrinking of civil society and that weaken the democratic institutions in Poland.