In power since the end of October 2023, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s liberal coalition breathed new life into Poland’s queer communities, overthrowing the far-right PiS party whose officials had vehemently targeted marginalised groups, from “LGBT-free zones” to the drastic restriction of abortion rights. More than a year after that political victory however, too little changed. Is there anything holding Tusk back from moving forward to secure the rights he campaigned on? What is the situation within his own political formation? What is at stake with the forthcoming presidential election?
The End of the Nightmare: the Fall of the PiS
The victory of Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) in Poland’s October 2023 legislative elections brought in a liberal government after years under the aegis of the Law and Justice Party (PiS), then one of the great leaders of far-right Christian populism in Europe. During the PiS years, minority rights were jeopardised in a country notorious for being one of the most conservative in Europe’s political landscape. In 2019, several local administrations in Poland declared administered territories ‘free of LGBT ideology’. Funding for associations was drastically reduced and anti-LGBTQ discrimination became legally acceptable, even on officials from other countries. Clément Beaune, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, was even refused access to the city of Kraśnik in 2021 because he was known to be gay.
Where the PiS went too far for Polish society, though, was in restricting women’s rights. After the fall of communism, partly due to the political influence of Catholic authorities and networks, Poland already had some of the most restrictive laws on abortion in Europe. In 2020, however, MPs from the far-right majority passed an even more restrictive law, making abortion only possible in cases of rape and incest, while the Constitutional Court recognised the incompatibility of abortion in cases of incurable illness threatening the life of the foetus, or serious disability, with the Polish Constitution. An unprecedented movement of protests, Strajk Kobiety, was born, reinforced by sad events such as the death of Izabela Sajbor, recognised as the first de facto victim of the new law passed by the PiS majority.
Therefore, a large part of the Coalition’s campaign was based on social rights, particularly for women. By allying himself with the progressive left, Donald Tusk, who comes from the liberal PO party, a member of the EPP group in the European Parliament, sent out a strong signal that appealed to a Polish population scarred by the government’s anti-feminist ideology – and by other scandals, notably corruption. The alliance won 248 of the 460 MEPs and ministers from Lewica, and a movement affiliated to the PES (Party of European Socialists), entered the government at the end of December 2023.
A Bittersweet Political Victory?
While the Coalition led by Tusk defeated the PiS in the elections, the majority acquired was too small to pass its planned social rights legislation. Progress on the rights of LGBTQ+ people have faced many difficulties, both in terms of legislative barriers and political dissent. In October 2024, the government tabled a bill to legalise a form civil union for couples, at a time when even same-sex marriages performed abroad are not recognised in the country. On this subject, Poland’s Commissioner for Human Rights Marcin Wiącek took the view that, in the light of the law, such an adoption would require a revision of Article 18 of the Polish Constitution, which is hardly doable. He also argued that the absence of such recognition would violate Article 8 of the ECHR.
As for the liberalisation of abortion, an initial text that intended to pave the way for a broader legislative package, was rejected by the Polish Sejm, due to the fact that part of the government majority turned against the text, with just a few votes to spare. In order to govern, the KO Civic Coalition had to form an alliance with a third party, the PSL, originally a conservative agrarian farmer’s party. Although they are opposed to the PiS, they do not follow the liberal positions of the left and Tusk’s camp. Nonetheless, scholars and figures such as Ewa Łętowska, a former judge both at the Supreme Administrative Court and at the Constitutional Tribunal, have stated that a revision of article 18, protecting heterosexual marriage, should not be needed to pass bills and pass laws about other forms of civic partnerships, opening the possibility to potential reform Those are issues that need political courage to be worked out, courage that appears to be lacking considering some people
Regardless, there are the two major difficulties hampering legislative action on the issues of minority rights and social progress: the very structure of Polish law, which is full of pitfalls that would require far-reaching changes to the texts; and a majority that is effective overall, but too small to make large-scale changes, particularly on LBGTQ+ issues.
Local Progress and the Presidential Election to Come
That being said, there have been positive developments in the safety and visibility of LGBTQ+ people since the last parliamentary elections. For a start, the Lambda Warszawa association recently succeeded in opening the first museum dedicated to the queer experience in Eastern Europe, in one of the capital’s most emblematic and popular streets. Bringing together more than 100,000 archive items, the museum bears witness to a long history that has long been invisible, and carries a message that is both memorial and political. A plaque commemorating the victims persecuted during the Second World War because they were queer will be unveiled this spring.
While this initiative is probably the most symbolic of Poland’s shift towards a more progressive society, it should be stressed that Warsaw’s alternative scene is particularly dynamic, even if it remains less visible, especially as it has been strengthened by the arrival of Belarusian and Ukrainian refugees and immigrants. The Stus Collective is a good example. Based in Warsaw and Poznań, the collective, which gathers multicultural artists from Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, recently held a performance in Zachęta Museum, one of the biggest galleries of the capital city, entitled “Our Queer is Uncomfortably Political”. Indeed, more and more queer and intercultural groups are springing up and are less facing oppression, although it really depends on the political side of the locality.
From a legislative point of view, while the text of the pact has been compromised, the almost total disappearance of ‘anti-LGBT’ zones from the map of Poland should at least be noted, largely due to the cessation of EU funding for these zones. But Polish law obviously remains discriminatory: LGBTQ+ people are not properly protected against discrimination (apart from a law passed in 2003 on recruitment) or against hate speech, and to change gender legally, you have to take your own parents to court and win. In an article published in 2024 in the European Journal of Politics and Gender, two researchers, Bogatyrev and Bogusz, pointed out that the Constitutional Council, mainly made up of PiS supporters, can still prevent laws from being passed by the Sejm, representing a significant hurdle to the expansion of LGBTQ+ protections and rights.
The new government led by Donald Tusk, while being more benevolent towards LGBTQ people and allowing the community to occupy more space by shifting the Overton window, is in its current state not in a strong position. This is particularly true on the topic of LGBTQ+ rights, which are not even unanimously supported within his own coalition. What’s more, Donald Tusk, unlike Rafal Trzaskowski, is not the most committed liberal politician on these issues. Trzaskowski, the current mayor of Warsaw, is officially nominated by his party – the same as Tusk’s, the PO – for the forthcoming presidential elections due in mid-2025. Frequently targeted by far-right movements because of his openly progressive stance towards LGBTQ+ people, if elected he could act as a fierce advocate of Poland’s minoritised communities.
However, more recently an upheaval occured in favour of transgender rights. The former PiS Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General had attempted to bring a case before the Supreme Court to further complicate access to change of civil status, by including the participation of potential children and the partner in the proceedings, in addition to the participation of the parents. Adam Bodnar, his liberal successor, withdrew this request. But the Supreme Court continued to examine the appeal and, against all expectations, issued an opinion that was the opposite of what the former minister had hoped for, and even cancelled the requirement to involve the parents in the trial. While this news does not solve all the problems, as the association Miłość Nie Wyklucza (“Love does not exclude”) points out in a statement on social media, it is a fine unexpected thumbing of the nose at the far right that will also relieve many people in their journey towards transitioning.
Many are pinning their hopes on him: in Warsaw, he signed a charter protecting the rights of LGBTQ people and even demonstrated at the annual Pride March. Now leading in the polls, it remains to be seen whether he is in a position to be elected at a time when there seems to be swelling anti-liberal backlash and a resurgence of the far right. Whether he will be able to reassure the most progressive voters disappointed with the current government, without scaring away a liberal but more conservative electorate, will be key to his victory.
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