ABSTRACT
In an effort to interrogate the prevailing stereotype of Poland as a hotbed of intolerance, I embarked in this book on a systematic journey to examine the documented attitudes of Polish survey respondents toward several groups whose rights and freedoms have provoked considerable controversy in democratic Poland. As I have demonstrated in this examination, Poland’s marginalized populations—ethnic, national, and religious minorities; women in public life and politics; political dissenters; and gays and lesbians—have all gone a long way toward achieving legal equality in Poland. In the over twenty years since the country’s democratic transition was set in motion, constitutional guarantees, statutory instruments, and participation in international treaties have greatly advanced the rights of these groups in Poland. Admittedly, the degree of institutional protection particular groups have been able to attain thus far has partly depended on the group in question. Explicit legal safeguards for national, ethnic, and religious minorities have been the most extensive to date. Protections against gender-based double-standards have been weaker. The most significant challenges remain in the area of equal status guarantees for LGBT Poles. Some fringe political groups (e.g., fascists or communists embracing totalitarian programs) have had their rights curtailed or their very existence prohibited by Polish law. Despite their tenuous legal standing, however, extreme right-wing groups have been able to assert their rights and freedoms without much interference from the state and, as I have argued before, it is highly debatable whether what little intolerance they encounter is in fact a bad thing.
