"Let me be clear: LGBTQ+ rights are human rights — and 'LGBT-free zones' have no place in the European Union or anywhere in the world" - Joe Biden wrote on Twitter on Monday. This way, the former U.S. vice president and current presidential candidate reiterated the words of the EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Last Wednesday, the head of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen gave an address to the European Parliament, in which she said there was no place in the bloc for so-called "LGBT-free zones", a pointed criticism of Poland's nationalist government pushing to curb the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
"LGBTQI-free zones are humanity free zones. And they have no place in our (European) Union. Breaches of the rule of law cannot be tolerated," she said last Wednesday. "Because being yourself is not your ideology. It’s your identity. And no one can ever take it away" - she added.
Von der Leyen has also pledged to put forward a strategy that would enforce the rights of LGBTQI people. "I will not rest when it comes to building a union of equality. A Union where you can be who you are and love who you want – without fear of recrimination or discrimination" - she said in her address.
Biden on von der Leyen's words
The Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden referred to von der Leyen's address on Monday, CET, via Twitter. "Let me be clear: LGBTQ+ rights are human rights — and 'LGBT-free zones' have no place in the European Union or anywhere in the world" - Biden wrote.
The former U.S. vice president attached a link to an article at ABC News website, covering Ursula von der Leyen's words. "She did not mention Poland by name, but did not need to" - the article reads.
"About one-third of Poles now live in communities that have passed resolutions declaring their opposition to the promotion of LGBT rights. The resolutions carry no binding legal powers, but they are seen by critics as discriminatory. Most were approved in the conservative eastern and southern areas of Poland" - wrote the authors of the article.
"Similar assertions are often expressed at the highest levels of government in Poland and by the powerful Catholic church. Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the right-wing Law and Justice party that has governed Poland since 2015, recently called the LGBT rights movement “a threat to the very foundations of our civilization" - ABC News wrote. The article also mentioned Polish President Andrzej Duda who had called the LGBT movement "an 'ideology' more dangerous than communism".
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, ABC News, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Shutterstock