Strategic litigation outcomes: The case of “LGBT-free zones”

Abstract

The reign of populists creates a political background for minority rights violation. For this reason, some Polish municipalities and local governments enacted resolutions declaring so-called “LGBT-free zones. This raised social resistance and led to the resolutions being challenged by the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights in administrative courts. Additionally, a wide range of extralegal means have been used by many LGBT NGOs to influence media, society and governments to overrule these resolutions. The authors describe this process and examine the role of the Commissioner for Human Rights in it in the context of strategic litigation.