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Reframing LGBT rights advocacy in the context of the rule of law backsliding:The case of Poland
Title / Series / Name
Intersections East European Journal of Society and Politics
Publication Volume
7
Publication Issue
4
Pages
Editors
Keywords
Discriminatory legalism
Human rights advocacy
Lgbt
Poland
Rule of law backsliding
Sociology and Political Science
Law
Human rights advocacy
Lgbt
Poland
Rule of law backsliding
Sociology and Political Science
Law
Files
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14018/27631
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, government 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 actionsand an independent Commissioner for Human Rights’ legal actions.
Topic
Publisher
Place of Publication
Type
Journal article
Date
2021
Language
ISBN
Identifiers
10.17356/IEEJSP.V7I4.852