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# EU official demands action against LGBTQ+ free towns
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/eu-official-demands-action-against-lgbtq-free-towns/
- Published: 2020-09-20T08:31:53.000Z
- Updated: 2020-09-25T10:05:37.000Z
- Description: European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen has publicly condemned the creation of ‘LGBTQ+ free’ zones in Poland, saying they have no place in the EU.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Politics, Andrzej Duda, Eu, Europe, LGBTQ, LGBTQ free towns Poland, LGBTQ Poland, Poland, UK, Ursula von der Leyen

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/offizielles-portraet-ursula-von-der-leyen-1.jpg)

Ursula von der Leyen

**European Commission** president **Ursula von der Leyen** has publicly condemned the creation of ‘LGBTQ+ free’ zones in **Poland**, saying they have no place in the **EU**. In her first **State of the Union** conference address on **September 16 2020**, she branded the zones ‘humanity-free’, and said the European Commission would soon put forward a plan to strengthen LGBTQ+ protections in Europe. [**ABC News**](https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/official-polish-lgbt-free-zones-place-eu-73044161?ref=scenemag.co.uk) reported Leyen did not mention Poland by name but implied she was referring to the country.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/eu-lgbt-rights600.png)

Local **UK** authorities have also spoken out against the rise of ‘LGBTQ+ free’ towns in Poland, expressing concern about twinning with these areas. Although some of these anti-queer zones have already been [denied](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/eu-denies-funding-for-lgbtq-free-polish-towns/) EU funding for town twinning, the number of complicit Polish towns is rising with now 80 areas in Poland discontinuing the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights.

Opposition to LGBTQ+ rights has grown rapidly since the [2020 re-election](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/polands-anti-lgbtq-president-re-elected/) of anti-LGBTQ+ president Andrzej Duda who vowed to crack down on what he refers to as ‘LGBTQ+ ideology’, causing some LGBTQ+ Poles to flee the country in fear. **Aleksandra Malecka**, a Polish born woman now living in Nottingham, told [**LBC**](https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk-campaigners-call-for-action-against-lgbt-free-zones-in-poland/?ref=scenemag.co.uk) **News** the Polish LGBTQ+ community have been discriminated against for years, and recent developments would discourage her from returning. She continued ‘I’ll never forget’ the discrimination and violence she faced living as an LGBTQ+ person in Poland.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/duda-poland-600.jpg)

Anti-LGBTQ+ Polish president Andrzej Duda