A magazine based in Poland will begin handing out anti-LGBT stickers to its readers.
The stickers feature a rainbow-filled circle with a dark X over it, alongside the words “LGBT-FREE ZONE” in Polish. They will be included in the upcoming issue of far right magazine Gazeta Polska.
The stickers appear to be intended for use by business owners who want to discourage LGBTQ people from patronizing their establishments, as well as any citizens who just want to put their bigotry on display.
“I am disappointed and concerned that some groups use stickers to promote hatred and intolerance,” Georgette Mosbacher, the US Ambassador to Poland, said on Twitter. “We respect freedom of speech, but we must stand together on the side of values such as diversity and tolerance.”
Gazeta Polska is reportedly very supportive of the current ruling party in Poland, the Law and Justice Party, and a spokesman for the party lashed out at Mosbacher for commenting.
Of particular concern to many is how the stickers seem to echo signs Poland had during World War II, barring Jews from entering certain public locations.
“It’s not even discrimination anymore — this is a call to violence,” co-president of Warsaw’s Love Does Not Exclude, Hubert Sobecki, told CNN.
“We’ve witnessed a huge, ultra-conservative backlash since the beginning of this year, with the entire government propaganda machine targeting the LGBT community here in Poland, and scapegoating us as the public enemy.”
Hate speech against the LGBTQ community isn’t barred in Poland, so there may not be much that can be done. But deputy mayor of Warsaw, Pavel Rabiej, has filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office in an attempt to block Gazeta Polska from going through with their plans.
