In a memorandum on the stigmatisation of LGBT+ people in Poland published Thursday (3 December), Council of Europe commissioner for human rights Dunja Mijatovic criticised authorities in Poland for the appalling treatment of queer people in the country. Mijatovic’s 16-page report noted that stigmatisation of LGBT+ people in Poland is a “long-standing problem”, but said “homophobic statements by leading public figures” was creating an atmosphere of “hate and intolerance”. She said anti-LGBT+ bias in Poland had been identified as a problem by past commissioners as far back as 2007, but that the situation was starting to improve up until 2017, according to polling. However, since 2017 there has been a “worrying turn for the worse”, with anti-LGBT+ sentiment on the rise – and the discriminatory attitudes are coming from the top. Mijatovic said she is now worried that progress on acceptance of LGBT+ people in Poland has “slowed down or reversed”. “It is difficult to dissociate this phenomenon from the promotion of anti-LGBTI sentiment in society by public officials,” the commissioner wrote.