Queer Coalition? The Crisis of Justice in Poland and LGBTQ+ Rights Before the Polish Courts

Did the political pressures judges found themselves under in Poland under authoritarian backsliding influence their attitudes towards other marginalised groups? I address this question with reference to a particular case study: the rights of the LGBTQ+ population. While no clear pattern of solidarity can be detected, I make use of the term ‘queer coalition’, originally developed by Alexander Kondakov to account for the new complexities injected into the existing relationship by the authoritarian backsliding. Drawing on interviews with human rights lawyers, activists and judges, I further elaborate on Kondakov’s analytical framing highlighting the volatile dynamics and issue-specificity of queer coalitions.