Tolerance in the polish workplace towards gay men and Lesbians

Abstract

In spite of positive developments concerning the legal status of Polish lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGB) that were set in motion on the eve of Poland’s accession to the European Union, LGB Poles are currently the subjects of more discrimination in Polish society and public life than any other group. This chapter describes the principal legal instruments that comprise the institutional environment of their rights in the workplace, and briefly discusses the legal status of discrimination on the basis of gender identity, which is not explicitly covered by Polish law. In addition, using recent, nationally representative survey data, the chapter examines the nature and etiology of public opinion regarding equal treatment of gay men and lesbians in all occupations. While the law implicitly protects bisexuals, the survey questions on which this chapter relies focus explicitly only on gay men and lesbians. The analysis of the sources of the more or less favorable views on workplace equality demonstrates that those views vary with respondents’ age, ideological self-placement, and opinions about Poland’s membership of the European Union. The closing section discusses the implications of the chapter’s findings for the future of Polish public opinion on workplace equality.