Poland

Categories Score

The full bar chart stands for 100%, and is filled by the country category score. The colour display uses the traffic light palette, with Green representing a score closer to 100% and Red a score closer to 0%.

ASYLUM

This category looks into laws that expressly include SOGISC as a qualification criteria for seeking asylum. We also take into account other legislation, policies, instruction or positive measures by state actors that are related to asylum addressing the needs and rights of LGBTI asylum seekers and refugees.

Civil Society Space

This category is about laws, policies and practices that allow for full exercise of freedom of assembly, association and expression for LGBTI people.

Intersex Bodily Integrity

The criteria under this category covers prohibition of any kind of surgical or medical intervention on an intersex minor before child is able to give informed consent. We additionally take into account if this prohibition is universal to all persons, establishes a monitoring mechanism and provides access to justice for victims and reparations.

Legal Gender Recognition

The category looks at laws and policies that ensure legal gender recognition for trans, non-binary and intersex people and the requirements and preconditions to access these procedures.

Hate Crime & Hate Speech

We look into laws that include sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics in the hate crime and hate speech legislation as an aggravating factor. The category also takes into account the recurrent and continuing policies tackling hatred.

Equality & Non Discrimination

This category looks into effective anti-discrimination legislation that explicitly includes sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics. We also take into consideration laws and policies banning conversion practices and allowing LGBTI people to donate blood. In addition to legislation, we look into effectively working equality bodies and well-implemented action plans.

Family

This category looks into recognition and protection of LGBTI people’s family rights with consideration of laws on marriage equality, registered partnership, adoption, medically assisted insemination, and trans parenthood.

Criteria Compliance Ratio

Each pie charts stands for a category and is divided in slices by criteria. When a country complies with a criteria – fully or in some regions – the slice is coloured.

Keep in mind the criteria have different weighting factor within a category; for example, the criteria Prohibition of medical intervention without informed consent (intersex) stands for half (2.5%) of the INTERSEX BODILY INTEGRITY category weighting factor (5%). Meaning that even if a country can only comply with this specific criteria within the category (1/4 total criteria) the category scores 50%.

More information on the categories and criteria weighting factors here.

Category & Criteria Table

The table lists detailed information and insights on legislation supporting each criterion status. Please use the filters for in-depth analysis.

n/a = not applicable, meaning the criteria didn’t exist in the previous Rainbow Map edition (PROGRESSION column)

  • Complies
  • Applicable in some regions only
  • Does not Comply
Category
Criteria
Status
Change since 2023
Name of Law / Documents / Institution
Date of Adoption
Date of Coming into Effect
Specific Article of Reference
Additional Information

RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to improve the legal and policy situation of LGBTI people in Poland, ILGA-Europe recommend:

  • Adopting legal measures to recognise and protect same-sex couples, such as registered partnership.
  • Adopting legislation to allow same-sex couples to have access to second parent adoption.
  • Introducing hate crime laws that explicitly cover all bias-motivated crimes based on SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics).

Annual Review of Poland

In our Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of LGBTI People in Europe and Central Asia, we examine the advances made and provide concrete examples of on-the-ground situations at national level country-by-country in the 12 months from January to December 2023.

Read our Annual Review of Poland below for more details and stories behind the Rainbow Map. You can also download the Annual Review chapter (.pdf) covering Poland.

The full Annual Review for 2024 is available here.

Country Score Evolution

Year

See also

Article

Joint statement: Welcoming European Court judgement on Poland’s failure to protect same-sex couples married abroad

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

LGBTI activism in the new far-right era

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Trans woman should have been allowed access to hormone therapy in prison, says European Court

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Report

Our submission to the EC 2024 Rule of Law report

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Poland must ensure that same-sex couples are legally recognised, European Court rules

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Bringing change in turbulent times: A call for applications for LGBTI groups in Poland

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Report

Our submission to the EC 2023 Rule of Law report

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

After Polish Case, CJEU Rules to Protect Self-employed Workers based on Sexual Orientation

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Sexual orientation is not a reason to terminate a contract with a self-employed worker, says Advocate General of the CJEU

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Rainbow families have the right to move and reside freely, EU court reiterates

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Polish public broadcaster TP in EU Court for Discrimination Against Self-employed LGBTI Person

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

European Commission and Council should refrain from approving recovery funds to the governments of Poland and Hungary

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

EU Ministers must act on the serious breach of EU’s rule of law and values in Poland

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Report

Our submission to the EC 2022 Rule of Law Report

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

What has 2021 meant to the LGBTI movement in Europe? Listen to our latest podcast episode to find out this year’s highlights

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Report

Poland Anti-LGBTI Hate Timeline

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

European Court rules in favour of the best interest of the child in same-sex custody case

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Media

The frontline: Queer and the Media: with Ben Hunte

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

With today’s infringements the EU has clarified that member states can no longer act against human rights with impunity

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

After a week of long-awaited statements and letters from EU leaders castigating the implementation of anti-LGBTI legislation in Hungary, ILGA-Europe will continue working with the institutions so that words can be translated into real action

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Is The EU an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone? 

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

LGBTI activists create a Twitter storm for EU infringement procedures against Poland over so called ‘LGBT-free Zones’

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Help us create a Twitter Storm calling on the European Commission to hold Poland to account for its treatment of LGBTI people!

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Poland: All charges against LGBTI rights defenders charged for peaceful activism must be dropped, say Human Rights NGOs

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Poland: Drop charges against women rights defenders

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Joint letter on Poland to Commission President von der Leyen

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Podcast: What’s it like being LGBTI in Poland in 2020?

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Poland is violating the fundamental rights of EU citizens and blatantly disregarding EU treaties and standards

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Poland’s Anti-LGBT Hate Timeline

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Media

The Frontline: Countering the Rise of State LGBT-phobia in Poland

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Poland: International institutions must protect LGBTI citizens and ensure the immediate release of activists

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

How you can support the Polish LGBTI community against the “LGBT-free zones”

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

ILGA-Europe Welcome European Parliament Resolution Tackling the Rise in Hate against the LGBTI Community

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Alarming Rise in Hate Attacks on European LGBTI Communities

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Report

A.D.-K. & Others v. Poland

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Report

Schlittner-Hay v. Poland

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Report

X. v Poland

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

Joint statement: Polish Parliament should reject bill to limit abortion rights

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Article

European LGBTI activists demand changes from the Polish authorities | ILGA-Europe

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Report

Meeting the challenge of accession

Read in ILGA Europe's website
Report

Equality for lesbians and gay men- a relevant issue in EU accession process

Read in ILGA Europe's website