"Creating LGBTQ+ free zones is against Halacha," Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich said at the kickoff for The Agudah - The Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel's new “Pride in the Living Room” series of events.
The Agudah is hosting and supporting dozens of these events in countries all over the world, ranging from Brazil, Japan, Australia, the UK, Spain, Italy, the US and more, some of which will be livestreamed over social media. Some of these countries, such as Poland and Hungary, have recently passed laws widely perceived as anti-LGBTQ+.
The right-wing governments of both Poland and Hungary have both made headlines in 2021 for their passing of laws seen as anti-LGBTQ+. These laws include banning the showing of LGBTQ+ friendly content on TV, prohibiting it being taught in classrooms, and the establishment of "LGBTQ+ free" zones.
The halachic implications of these laws were addressed by Schudrich at the Agudah's kick-off event.
“From what I can say, creating LGBTQ+ free zones is against the Halacha," Schudrich said.
"Every Jew should know that they are welcome, and that if someone tells them they are not welcome, that person is incorrect. Yes, we have differences, so what? Creating Jewish unity is not about agreeing about everything, it's about celebrating that we are all Jewish together."
"Hearing rabbis speak about Jewish LGBTQ+ people in our lives is so important because that silence can be deadly," Keshet UK executive director Dalia Fleming said in response.
The laws passed by Poland and Hungary that are seen as anti-LGBTQ+ have garnered significant controversy around the world, but especially in Europe, with outrage in the European Union focused on this violation of liberal values. In June, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte even called on Hungary to leave the EU for going against the body's values, Bloomberg reported.
Poland's laws in particular have always been controversial, with the country not recognizing same-sex relationships or allowing same-sex couples from adopting children — something that became even stricter, as new laws will require authorities to do background checks on anyone applying to adopt as a single parent, the BBC reported.
Hungary, too, has also amended its laws to effectively ban same-sex adoption.
The LGBTQ+ free zones in Poland compromise some 100 towns, approximately a third of the entire country, and has also been the subject of harsh criticism, according to Balkan Insight.
Polish Jewish leaders have been critical of it before, too.
"We have observed politicians... cynically undertake to foment hostility and hatred towards LGBT persons," the Board of the Jewish Community of Warsaw wrote in a letter in June 2020.
"We Jews - the descendants of Holocaust survivors — cannot and will not remain indifferent to words that would dehumanize LGBT persons," the board wrote, saying that politicians had failed to learn the lessons of World War II.
Reuters contributed to this report.