Changing a sentiment: Poland’s attitude towards LGBTI since PiS lost its power

Has the situation for the Polish LGBTI community improved since PiS lost its majority?

The fall of PiS’s parliamentary majority in 2023 raised hopes for a brighter future for Poland’s LGBTI community. But are we seeing it play out like that? On paper, Poland still ranks last in LGBTI rights in the EU. And no legislation in favor, or against the community has passed. But in reality? Well, that depends on who you ask, really.  

Radosław Kraszewski, a very outspoken activist and involved member of the Polish LGBTI community, doesn’t see much progress. “Nothing, to be honest, has changed since PiS lost its majority. For eight years, the party in power was against us, so we were struggling.” He adds that the few LGBTI organizations that they have haven't been very active, as well. Sure, gays show up more on TV now, but that doesn’t mean people are suddenly accepting. The social reality? People still hide, especially at work. “The gossip could kill you here.” That’s why he chooses to be out himself, hoping others can feel free, too.

Discrimination outside workplaces is also still common. Olga Pawłowska-Plesińska from the Campaign Against Homophobia organization calls the amount of hate crimes and hate speech “alarming.” She says 70% of the community experiences violence. Mostly verbal, but sometimes physical or sexual. It’s unsafe and sends a clear message: you don’t belong.

"Parade of Normality", a counter-protest to Warsaw's Equality March (Pride Parade). The banner reads: ''Stop Homodictature! No to LGBT card in Lodz' (Bron: ANP)

"My queer friends would rather stay hidden than face the repercussions": Iwona's story

 “It’s really a minefield topic,” says the Polish Iwona as the topic of the question seems to startle her a bit. “Not me necessarily but I know people who are really really against gay people. They don’t like them. They don’t wanna have anything in common with them.”

Sometimes, according to her, not even queer people want anything to do with the Polish idea of a queer person. “There’s this little thing called the equality parade. It’s like a circus. Queer people are shown from the worst side. I have got gay friends, and they say that they do not like to be associated with the parade and the people from the parade.”

“Poland is demographically an old country, and the older generation does not have any other model than husband and wife. Because of that, it’s a very difficult complex topic that most people are not very comfortable talking about. So, we don’t talk about it.”

That is exactly why she thinks that queer people do stay in the corner they’re being pushed into. “People who are gay rather stay hidden than face the repercussions. Because it’s fine when you don’t express yourself and are a just a normal human being that just happens to have a different sexual orientation, but when gay people are like ‘I’m different and I need to show it, I need to shout it out,’ then it’s not.”

That sentiment is seen in action when Iwona’s LGBTI contacts aren’t comfortable commenting themselves, and when she asks to keep her last name out.

It also gets reinforced by the comment of another person, who chooses to stay anonymous, on the internet platform Quora, and the dozen and a half people who agreed. “Due to historical reasons, Poles will never accept foreign influence that tries to divide their society,” they say, “and even less if that influence will be enforced by foreign institutional bodies and foreign corporations. History has proven they are one of the most based nations on the planet and will always chose unity and integrity over the ‘diversity’ bullshit that made the west sink.”

However, Piotr Godzisz, an expert on the political situation in Poland regarding the queer community, sees some softening. “The LGBT-free zones have since May all been dismantled,” he points out. Most politicians are less openly hateful than before. But the laws? “Nothing has changed,” he says. They tried, though. “After many years of advocacy, finally in 2023, the current government agreed to legislate against hate speech and hate crime targeting LGBTI people. That was the promise of the government, and the government finally delivered on that promise in 2025. But because of the recent presidential elections, that is out of the window for now."

Wondering exactly what Poland's law says regarding homosexuality and gender identities in Poland? This video dives into it!

What frustrates Godzisz most is how the West sees Poland. “A lot of people, from the western perspective, see Poland as a batch of homophobia almost equal to countries that continue to have the death penalty for homosexuality, whereas Poland is none of these states.” He adds, “You can freely walk as an LGBTI person on the streets, holding hands with your same-sex partner. Most likely nothing will happen to you.” He even compares Warsaw to Amsterdam or London, saying those cities might be more dangerous in some ways. “I think judging Poland only for its politics spawns a lot of injustice,” he says.

“Coming out will make my family sad, so I just don’t”: Zofia's story

Queer people support each other through challenges, finding strength in their communities. Like Zofia, who found her community on a Polish Discord server for queer people.

“My family isn’t really okay with people like me, so they don’t know.” For that reason, she asked to keep her last name out of the story. “They are really religious people, and we go to church a lot. They talk about it all the time, how they think it is gross and stuff. And when a couple of two men or two women walk by, they whisper comments and make mean faces. My parents are a bit more modern than my grandparents, but they still don’t like it. I am not mad at them for it because they do not understand it. It is not normal for them. They are just repeating what they learned from society and from the church. I think they just don’t want any people to go to hell. But I think that if I tell them, they will be sad, so I just don’t.”

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect her, though. “It is a little lonely because I can’t be myself in my house. That is why it is good that I have many friends online I can be myself with. I like them. And they are like me, so they understand me. We can talk about people we have a crush on. Share memes together. I do not know them in real life, but I see them as my friends. It is nice to have a place like that. Everyone is accepted there, and you can feel it. I am really lucky.”

Things might have been improving, too. Patryk Adamajtis, a Polish LGBTI person speaking to Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant at the 2024 Warsaw Pride parade, says, “The new government is more open-minded.” Even in former LGBT-free zones, people feel freer. And Marcin Dębicki, also Polish and queer, says, “Life itself has not changed at all. Because it does not depend on resolutions, but on the people around you. Under the current coalition, no one cares who goes to bed with whom. The current government does not equate gays with pedophiles, which was the official message of its predecessors. And what irritated me personally extremely.”

On that optimistic note, Piotr Godzisz also agrees that life in Poland has significantly improved for Polish LGBTI individuals. Maybe not since PiS lost its power, but certainly in the past two decades. That includes, according to him, a sharp rise in LGBTI visibility, with more Pride events and public shows of support than ever before. “People have changed attitudes. In terms of religiosity, liberalism, people being able to live their own lives.” But that visibility, he warns, has come with a price: “It’s also brought a lot of political homophobia.” He notes that LGBTQ+ activism in Poland is still playing catch-up, especially in comparison to the West. “The level of organizing and professionalization is quite limited,” he says. “But I think Poland’s activists are doing an amazing job with very few resources.” 

Curious about the attitudes of the Polish citizens towards their LGBTI fellows? Read this fact sheet!

Who tried their best to change it?

The EU wasn’t so happy with the actions of the previous government. Poland’s LGBT-free zones clashed hard with the values the European Union stood for, or was trying to stand for. So, in 2021, two years after the first zone popped up, the EU Parliament declared the entire Union an “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone.”

And they didn’t stop at symbolism. That same year, the EU launched legal action against Poland, arguing the zones flirted too closely with discrimination, strictly against EU law.

But when the EU told them so, Poland’s officials failed to respond (also not very legal) (“EU Founding Values…”) and refused to support the EU’s conclusions on the protection of LGBTI communities in Europe.

Meanwhile, photographer Bartosz Staszewski was making his statement. In 2020, he started a photo campaign featuring queer people standing beneath signs reading “LGBT-FREE ZONE” at the entrance to their towns. The signs were his way of visualizing what these zones really meant for those living there. “Real heroes,” he called the people in the portraits. Some towns sued him for defamation, but in 2022, a court in Rzeszów tossed out the case (“Polish Court Rejects…”). The Council of Europe backed him too, noting he wasn’t the first activist being dragged into court for pushing back.

“Social media creates a safe space”: Emifolika's story

Just like Zofia, Emofiolka, as their Discord username reads, found a safe space on the internet. Platforms like Discord are filled with servers where Polish queers come together, building the community that the LGBTI organizations can't seem to bring. With pride on her face, she openly talks about the server that she helped make and the friend group that brought her.

“It’s bad where I am for gay people like me. There is a lot of hate and anger, so it’s super great I have this server.” Because of the negative attitudes towards the community, so they share, people sometimes face mistreatment. “There are many people who have that problem. I haven’t seen it myself in real life, only heard of it, but I’ve seen it on social media. So, I am glad these people have a safe space on this server.”

And it seems to have been a good find. “There are many other Discord servers that only pretend to be LGBTI-friendly, too. This server is cool and very friendly. We talk, share memes, voice chat, and sometimes we play games like Minecraft. So, when people don’t support them, having the community and this server is a welcome escape, they share. “It’s good to have them. They make me strong.”

Warsaw’s mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, who had also recently been in the running to become president, showed his support, too. In 2019, even before the LGBT-free zones exploded onto the scene, he signed a landmark pro-LGBTI declaration. It pushed for things like anti-discrimination education, an LGBTI community center, and a shelter offering psychological and legal support. Trzaskowski made one thing clear: in his city, everyone deserves to feel safe.

So even though Poland’s still got a road ahead, people are speaking up. From courts to cameras to City Hall, not everyone’s staying quiet.

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