The term "free zone" de facto also refers to the people of this LGBT class. Saying that it is ideology, and not people, is turning a blind eye to reality, said the judge of the Provincial Administrative Court in Gliwice, which issued a judgment on Tuesday in the case of the resolution of the Istebna Commune Council on the "LGBT-free zone" challenged by the Ombudsman.

The court stated that the commune council by adopting such a resolution exceeded its powers on September 2, 2019 and adopted it in violation of the law. It also stated that the resolution discriminated against persons of a sexual orientation and identity other than heterosexual.

In the justification, the court pointed out that the term "LGBT ideology" has not been specified in the current social situation in Poland, that it is not a clear, precise or at least uncontroversial concept. The court found that in the current conditions in Poland, this concept applies to people from the LGBT group and has a discriminatory effect for them, consisting in excluding them from the community due to their sexual preferences and gender identity.

Moreover, the court found that the resolution infringed Art. 32 of the Polish Constitution. - It harms, strengthens the sense of threat to these people. These are arguments of the heaviest caliber, which the court felt obliged to annul the resolution - emphasized judge Krzysztof Wujek in the oral justification.

- Ideology is always related to people. The dictionary definition states that it is a system of views, ideas, concepts, shared by individuals or groups of people. The term "free zone" de facto also refers to the people of this LGBT class. Saying that it is ideology and not people is turning a blind eye to reality, he added.

In the opinion of the court, the resolution also violates the right to educate children in accordance with their own convictions and to learn, limiting the scope of topics that can be taught in schools, while in Poland the minister of national education decides about the core curriculum. - Human sexuality is the subject of scientific research, one of the branches of medicine. Science cannot be considered inappropriate for the curricula, argued the court.

The judgment is not final. A cassation appeal may be lodged against him with the Supreme Administrative Court within 30 days of receiving a written justification of the court's judgment.

- The Ombudsman accepts today's judgment with appreciation and satisfaction. It seems that this is a precedent judgment that could significantly change the situation of LGBT people in Poland, said Anna Błaszczak-Banasiak, director of the Equal Treatment Team at the Office of the Human Rights Defender.

As she said, "the commune of Istebna operated without the necessary legal basis, but what is particularly important, [the court] drew attention to the social consequences of this type of commune's activities for the LGBT community."

- In the opinion of the Ombudsman, this judgment is important not only in the context of this resolution from Istebna, but also in the context of all dozens of anti-LGBT resolutions that have been adopted so far throughout Poland - she pointed out.

Earlier, the provincial administrative courts in Kraków, Kielce and Poznań rejected complaints by the Commissioner for Human Rights against resolutions of local self-governments that wanted to "impose a barrier to LGBT ideology". The courts found that such a resolution did not concern a matter of public administration or that the position of the commune council presented in the resolution was in the nature of an ideological declaration not constituting a basis for imposing any obligations, or for granting or confirming powers. Read more via TVN24