Reframing LGBT rights advocacy in the context of the rule of law backsliding

Abstract

Adopting the methods of institutional analysis and case law analysis, the paper answers how specific elements of rule of law backsliding impact advocacy for minorities’ rights’ recognition. The phenomenon is analysed in the case of Poland, a state that since 2015 has been experiencing directed erosion on rule of law standards. Between 2018 and 2020, governmental leaders in Poland targeted lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the context of electoral campaigns. The paper discusses long-term legal, political, and social factors contributing to creating an environment where such anti-LGBT campaigns are possible. It further demonstrates that specific elements of rule of law backsliding, such as politically subordinating the Constitutional Tribunal and the office of the Prosecutor General, enable authorities to apply discriminatory legal instruments to limit the targeted minority’s rights and also make resistance to it with legal means more complex. Against this backdrop, the paper argues that human rights defenders’ immediate responses—private civil lawsuits, artistic projects, and monitoring of discriminatory actions of the authorities—were key for drawing domestic and international attention to anti-LGBT campaigns, which later led to the European Union’s institutions concrete actions and an independent Commissioner for Human Rights’ legal actions. Cumulatively, these actions contributed to reversing elements of the anti-LGBT campaign in Poland.

ascensão da direita radical no Leste Europeu e a perseguição aos direitos LGBTQIA+

“…LGBTQIA+ tem sido utilizada como um marcador de identidade religiosa, cultural e política, uma forma de praticar o patriotismo, reforçar o binarismo "nós/outros" e, assim, mobilizar ainda mais sua base central de votos (GRABOWSKA-MOROZ;WÓJCIK, 2021, p. 85-103).…”

“…Para Von der Leyen, "zonas livres de ideologia LGBTQIA+ são zonas livres de humanidade" e, por isso, não podem ser aceitas na UE. Em setembro de 2020, uma carta aberta assinada por embaixadores de 50 países, representantes de diferentes organizações internacionais e da Comissão Europeia foi publicada enfatizando a importância de assegurar os direitos LGBTQIA+ e exigindo às autoridades polonesas que acabassem com a discriminação contra minorias sexuais (GRABOWSKA-MOROZ;WÓJCIK, 2021, p. 95-96).…”

The Eurodisappointed: On the disenchantment with the EU's limited response to democratic backsliding

“…The 2020 ruling on abortion and the systemic discrimination of sexual minorities has been widely regarded as evidence of the political takeover of the judiciary and the systemic collapse of the rule of law in Poland, with Europe as a whole taking notice (Gliszczyn ́ska-Grabias and Sadurski, 2021;Grabowska-Moroz and Wójcik, 2022). As a result, Members of the EP have called on the Council to expand the scope of its hearings and to include these issues in its investigation into the rule of law situation in Poland.…”

“…Similarly, the LGBTIQ-free zones have been seen as part of the broader rule-of-law crisis in Poland. Advocacy for LGBTIQ rights has been reframed to include private civil lawsuits, artistic projects, and the monitoring of discriminatory actions by the authorities against the backdrop of democratic backsliding in Poland (Grabowska-Moroz and Wójcik, 2022).…”

Innovation Despite Backsliding—the Importance of the Events of 7th August 2020 for Polish LGBTQIA Youth

“…The situation in the country has deteriorated rapidly in recent years and it is now considered the worst country in EU for the LGBTQIA community as the research shows (ILGA-Europe, 2022). The legal situation, for one, is getting dramatically worse-as recent studies indicate (Grabowska-Moroz & Wójcik, 2022;Korolczuk, 2020) Paternotte & Kuhar, 2018).…”