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The Co Cork town of Fermoy has cut ties with its Polish twin, Nowa Deba, over a motion opposing “LGBT ideology.”
The six Fermoy councilors voted to sever the city’s 14-year relationship with the eastern Polish city, which had included exchange visits and cultural events, said Councilor Noel McCarthy, who proposed the vote.
“We ended because we felt that your local authority had discriminated against the LGBT community,” McCarthy said, referring to a motion passed by Nowa Deba in 2019.
“We have nothing against the Nowa Deba twinning committee or the mayor, in fact we just feel that we cannot be associated with a city that does not change its stance on its LGBT + community.”
Nowa Deba officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gay, bisexual and trans rights have become a divisive issue in Poland since 2019 when the nationalist ruling Law and Justice (PiS) said in election campaigns, laced with homophobic rhetoric, that they undermined traditional family values.
International criticism has been mounting against nearly 100 Polish municipalities, dubbed “LGBT-free zones” by activists, who passed resolutions against “LGBT ideology” in the last year, and several European cities ended their twinning relations.
The European Union has rejected six city twinning requests involving Polish authorities adopting such motions, although it appears that they were not followed by discriminatory legislation against LGBT + residents.
The 2019 Nowa Deba resolution pledged to “defend our tradition, culture and religion against aggressive, misleading and harmful LGBT ideology,” according to the Atlas of Hate, a map created by local activists that tracks “LGBT-free zones.” .
Polish government officials have said that discrimination is not tolerated in the Eastern European country, but LGBT + activists say symbolic motions allow homophobia to flourish.
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