Legislation that declared itself ‘LGBT Free’ has been removed from the statute books in the Polish region of Malopolska, which includes Krakow the host city for the 2023 European Olympic Games.
The European Union had threatened to withhold €2.5 Billion in funding for the region and others.
The offending statute has been replaced with one that says it will ‘oppose any discrimination against anyone for any reason.’
The city was selected as the host for the third edition of the Games after being the only one to bid. Previous editions of the event, promoted by Pat Hickey in his time as President of the European Olympic Committee were held in Baku in Azerbaijan and Minsk in Belarus.
Katie Taylor and Michael O’Reilly won Gold Medals in boxing at the first Games. Kurt Walker did likewise at the second Games in Minsk with Kellie Harrington winning Silver.
The organising committee of the Games has insisted throughout that all competitors will be treated with respect and that there will be no discrimination of any kind.
The prevailing political mood remains ambivalent at best and is still hostile however with Sport for Business reporting last month that an earlier motion to expunge the legislation had been defeated amid claims that Poland was being ‘blackmailed’ by Europe.
The leader of the Council is the father of the Polish President Andrzej Duda and the political party they both represent said then that the maintaining of the legislation is a victory for democracy and self-governance.
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