Government uses taxpayer funds for anti-LGBT articles

The government in Poland has used taxpayer funds to pay for anti-LGBT+ articles that compare queer rights to Soviet Russia and communism.

The country’s justice ministry paid for two articles in Polish weekly magazine Do Rzeczy titled “In Defence of Christians” and “Catholics Pilloried”, The Irish Times reports.

“The Soviets were also marching under the banners of tolerance and freedom, only now, instead of the red flags, they hang rainbow-coloured ones on the walls,” one article says.

“Their goals are linked by hatred for people with different views.”

According to Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, the articles were financed by a government justice fund set up to support victims of crime as well as eyewitnesses.

Government sponsored articles in Poland claim religious people in the country face ‘Christianophobia’.

The articles insist that Christians are “the most persecuted religious group in the world” and claim that attacks on them are increasing each year.

Poland’s deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski is quoted in the article, where he speculates as to whether “attacks on the church are part of the planned political strategy”.

“If we punish antisemitism, we should punish for Christianophobia too,” he said.

The publicly funded articles come as Poland continues its descent into becoming one of the most hostile countries towards the LGBT+ community in the world.

Poland been deemed one of the worst places to be LGBT+ in Europe.

Earlier this year, it was reported that a third of Poland had been declared an “LGBT-free zone”, with local municipalities signing a pledge adopting resolutions against “LGBT propaganda”.

At least 100 municipalities have declared themselves to be “free from LGBT ideology”. Activists later created an “Atlas of Hate” map which showed that an area bigger than the size of Hungary has been declared to be LGBT free.

Just last month, Poland was named as one of the worst places to be LGBT+ in a Rainbow Map from queer rights organisation ILGA-Europe.

In the organisation’s ranking, each country is given a percentage score on LGBT+ rights – and Poland trailed behind at just 16 per cent.

Poland trails behind on LGBT+ rights alongside other countries in Europe, such as Turkey (3.8 per cent), Armenia (7.5 per cent) and Russia (10 per cent).