Une législation (in)utile ? Les politiques urbaines et les expériences des LGBT à Wroclaw, Pologne

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze how the apparently universal character of legal provisions in contemporary Poland, which list sexual orientation as a protected ground solely in the field of employment, has identified the initiatives of Polish LGBT movement based on identity politics and civil rights paradigm of a (neo)liberal type. Its attempts to include “sexual minorities” in a hegemonic concept of citizenship by the use of legislative measures have not yet succeeded. But, the movement has managed to gradually introduce an idea of LGBT cultural and legal citizenship into collective imagination of Polish society. The actual results of that broader situation, defined by national, European and global scales, are discussed in the context of interactions between the municipality and LGBT residents of Wroclaw (PL). While the municipality declares that LGBT citizens are included in general antidiscrimination frames, LGBT activists stress that the municipality does not recognize them and is unwilling to cooperate. Contrarily, other LGBT residents do not find such recognition and/or cooperation desirable. This in turn problematizes basic premises of the Polish mainstream LGBT activism.

Keywords

• Anthropology of law
• LGBT movement
• Poland
• Sexual citizenship
• Urban activism