The strongly conservative Catholic country has seen a huge surge in homophobia after the ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) based its winning 2019 parliamentary election campaign on a platform of LGBT+ abuse. The problem has grown so severe that more than 80 Polish municipal or local governments have now proclaimed themselves to be ‘LGBT-free zones’, a move strongly condemned by the European Parliament. An alliance formed of three left-wing parties is now aiming to combat the increasing anti-gay rhetoric by backing Robert Biedroń, an openly gay politician and LGBT+ activist, as their joint candidate in the May presidential election. Biedroń, 44, is a former MEP and current leader of the social liberal and pro-European party, Spring.