Reframing LGBT rights advocacy in the context of the rule of law backsliding. The case of Poland

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, governmental 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 actions and an independent Commissioner for Human Rights’ legal actions. Cumulatively, these actions contributed to reversing elements of the anti-LGBT campaign in Poland.

本研究旨在探讨波兰法治倒退的特定元素如何影响LGBT权利倡导，并分析LGBT权利捍卫者如何在变化的制度、法律和政治环境中进行适应。通过制度分析和案例法分析，本研究首先讨论波兰LGBT权利的法律承认程度及其法律和社会政治决定因素。其次，分析自2015年以来法治倒退的具体元素，这些变化使得反对LGBT的运动更加复杂。接着，本研究展示了在这些变化的制度背景下，LGBT权利倡导的实际案例。最后，总结研究发现并提出结论。

本研究采用制度分析和案例法分析两种方法。通过制度分析，研究探讨了波兰关键机构的组成和运作变化，特别是宪法法庭、检察总长与司法部长合并后的影响以及公共媒体的变化。研究分析了相关的立法、国际机构的文件（如欧洲委员会的威尼斯委员会、欧盟法院总检察长、欧洲安全与合作组织）以及相关的学术文献。案例法分析则关注波兰宪法法庭和普通法院在反LGBT运动中的法律行为，并结合欧洲人权法院的判例进行参考。这些方法帮助阐明了法治倒退过程中，涉及的制度如何在法律行动中起到了推动反LGBT政策的作用。

本研究表明，法治倒退使政府能将反LGBT的政治议程转化为国家政策。波兰宪法法庭被政治化，确保反LGBT新法律的有效性，检察系统合并后也加剧了对LGBT权利倡导者的打压。公共媒体则推广仇视同性恋的观点，进一步支持反LGBT运动。在法治体系瓦解的背景下，尽管面临挑战，独立法院仍是抵抗反LGBT政策的最后防线。