'LGBT-free zone' push in Poland draws fire from U.S. ambassador
The U.S. ambassador to Poland joined a litany of criticism against “hatred and intolerance” by supporters of the conservative government over a magazine’s plan to distribute “LGBT-free zone” stickers.
The question over gay rights is becoming a polarizing issue before fall general elections, underscoring a departure by the ruling Law & Justice Party from the European Union’s liberal, multicultural mainstream. Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has warned that the advancement of gay rights is a “grave danger” for Poland’s families and the future of the bloc.
His supporters have embraced that message, with about 30 cities, mostly in the former communist country’s poorer eastern regions, adopting declarations saying they’re “free from LGBT ideology” and opposing “social engineering that’s foreign to Polish culture and natural order.” The pro-government Gazeta Polska weekly is now planning to distribute...