Does the EU help or hinder gay-rights movements in post-communist Europe? The case of Poland

Abstract

Gay rights would seem an area of politics largely untouched by the changes wrought by Eastern Europe's democratic transitions and accession to the European Union (EU). Against the conventional wisdom, this article argues that the broader picture in the region is actually one of increasing rights and better-organised, more influential gay-rights movements and that these developments were catalysed by EU accession. It also argues, however, that the dominant theoretical perspective on accession's effect on domestic politics, Europeanisation theory, cannot account for this outcome. Using a close study of Poland, I suggest that social movement theory – with its emphasis on political opportunity structure, framing, and polarisation – provides a better account of how gay rights have developed as a political issue since the fall of communism.