Three Polish regional councils voted on Monday to repeal motions declaring their provinces „LGBT-free zones,” state-run news agency PAP reported, after the European Union threatened to withdraw funding.
Numerous local authorities in Poland declared themselves free of „LGBT ideology” in 2019, part of a conflict in the predominantly Catholic country between liberals and religious conservatives, who see the struggle for gay rights as a threat to traditional values.
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Councillors in the south-eastern Podkarpackie and Lubelskie provinces, two of nearly a hundred municipalities and provinces that adopted motions declaring themselves free of „LGBT ideology,” both voted to repeal the motions on Monday.
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Southern province of Małopolskie followed suit later on Monday and also revoked its „LGBT-free” zone resolution. In the case of this region, at stake were the funds from the REACT-EU programme amounting to 33.5 million euros (over 150 million zlotys), and approx. 2.5 billion euros from the 2021-2027 financial framework (approx. 11 billion zlotys).
The European Commission wrote to five Polish regional councils at the beginning of September urging them to abandon declarations that they are „LGBT-free” in order to receive funding.
source: tvn24.pl
