An independent initiative of lawyers conducting strategic judicial proceedings. We joined forces to protect one of the most discriminated groups in Poland. We strive to win equal rights for lgbt+ people.
An independent initiative of lawyers conducting strategic judicial proceedings. We joined forces to protect one of the most discriminated groups in Poland. We strive to win equal rights for lgbt+ people.
‘Because I am lesbian, my life in Poland is not among the easy ones, especially considering the lack of any legal protection of my union. My marriage, lawfully concluded in another European Union state, is not recognised in my state. I cannot legally inherit from my wife nor can she from me. The will does not settle the matter: we belong to the last tax group, so the gifts and bequests tax will not pass us by, the legitim will still have to be paid. These are but two examples of my worries. I experience other problems on a daily basis, encountering homophobia and hate speech against which I am not legally protected. Hundreds of thousands of people in Poland share these circumstances. I am an attorney and I decided to use my skills to change the LGBT+ persons’ legal status. Our rights are human rights. We are people, not some ideology. And we need our rights.’
‘We do not live in an equality society. Despite the ideal expressed in the Constitution, I believe that in practice, we are far from a system that realises the principles of social justice, the Law is not neutral, it shapes reality and often supports the strongest, although it should do exactly the opposite. As in the case of LGBTQIA people, whose discrimination in Poland is systemic, strongly established both in law and in social attitudes, and so invisible that it is transparent. As a lawyer and attorney, I want to use the law, however imperfect it may be, as a tool in the struggle for the protection of LGBTQIA rights. I consider this to be my duty, arising from my privileged position and my belief in the need to work actively to achieve social justice.’
‘In Article 32, the Polish Constitution states that ‘no one shall be discriminated against in political, social or economic life on any ground whatsoever’. Courts should also uphold values such as equality and non-discrimination, which are the foundations of a democratic society. In this context, lawyers all genders in proceedings have a significant role to play to remind us of these values if necessary. It is therefore important to build alliances and cooperation platforms to raise awareness of the rights of non-heteronormative persons among attorneys and to work together for equality and tolerance.’
‘Although the introduction of appropriate legislation and its subsequent proper application will not solve the problem of homophobia and transphobia in its entirety, these actions constitute an indispensable foundation on which to build effective strategies to respond to these phenomena. This means that lawyers of all genders also have an important role to play in this process. LGBT discrimination is so deeply rooted in the Polish society and its legal system that to counteract it effectively requires consistent, and, above all, team work on the part of all lawyers and lawyers. Taking part in the LGBT+lawyers initiative is an important and necessary step for me in increasing the involvement of the legal community in protecting the LGBT rights in Poland.’
‘I work in lgbt+lawyers because I think people are equal and the law should not humiliate them.’
‘There are more and more LGBT+ proceedings in Poland and more of them enable LGBT+ people to realise their human rights. Unfortunately, we have no influence on changing the law, but we do have influence on how the law is applied in Poland. I see a great need for cooperation between attorneys who undertake to represent clients in these precedential proceedings. I would like us to consciously focus our efforts on those issues that actually raise the standard of protection for LGBT+ people.’
‘I firmly believe in the sense of strategic litigation. Our legal system is not perfect and does not sufficiently protect the rights of groups and individuals who are exposed to discrimination. I think we should take matters into our own hands and try to fix this system in the courtrooms. The LGBT+lawyers is our common step towards equality and respect for LGBT+ rights.’
‘The role of the law is to acknowledge all committed personal relationships. The primary responsibility of the legal system is to provide every individual with the real possibility of making decisions about his or her personal life, as well as to offer protection in the event of the termination of a relationship. Until such regulations are in place, all those in need of assistance should be provided with the individual help.’
‘The rights of persons identifying themselves as LGBT+ are among the human rights issues and, contrary to the strengthening trends against human rights protection, I do not consider any concessions to be acceptable in this area. Any violation of LGBT rights is a matter of concern and requires the assistance of professional proxies.’
‘Equality of everyone before the law is one of the fundamental principles of modern legal systems, also in Poland. Unfortunately, this principle is not our reality, especially when it comes to the rights of LGBT+ community, whose existence is often not taken into account at all. It needs to be changed. Together we can do it more effectively. ‘
We are working together to develop an effective and responsible strategy, the implementation of which will allow us to achieve our goal, i.e. equal rights for lgbt+ people in Poland.
We map cases from all over Poland, not only the ones that we run.
We meet regularly and discuss ongoing proceedings, the loopholes in legal protection and ideas for filling them.
We act as attorneys. We conduct strategic court proceedings in the lgbt+ rights protection. These cases are conducted for the benefit of our Clients within our law firms or in cooperation with non-governmental organisations.
The proceedings take place at the national and international level.
We gather knowledge about proceedings concerning legal protection of lgbt+ persons in Poland. We maintain a database of these proceedings and update it on a regular basis.
We keep the public informed about the progress of matters through our website and social media.
We speak in the media and share the collected data.
Many important lgbt+ rights judgments are not published by court decision.
We believe that this case-law should be available to other attorneys and courts adjudicating on similar cases. That is why we publish all judgments available to us, appropriately anonymised.
We are happy to share our knowledge and experience with the lgbt+ community, other attorneys and representatives, NGOs, the Office of the Ombudsman and other national and international institutions.
If you need information or support or if you would like to join us, write to us.
The lgbt+lawyers initiative was created to provide a broader perspective on the cases of non-heteronormative persons, conducted by attorneys in Poland.
We wanted to summarise the efforts of individual lawyers to date and plan our future activities.
We are gathered to cooperate and realise the dream of a Poland where lgbt+ people have full legal protection, just like other citizens. We are close to the vision described in the LGBT+ Congress Declaration. We feel responsible for developing and implementing a legal action strategy to make this vision a reality.
We have many years of experience in proceedings involving transgender persons, same-sex family matters, hate crimes, discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
We represented our Clients in such cases as: issuing a certificate enabling marriage abroad, confirming the citizenship of children of same-sex couples, introducing marital equality in Poland, transcribing same-sex marriage certificates and birth certificates of children of same-sex couples, establishing the content of Polish birth certificates, establishing the sex of underage transgender persons, establishing gender on the basis of international rulings, establishing the content of the birth certificate of a child born from a transgender man, prohibiting equality marches, discrimination in access to services (the so-called Printer from Łódź case).