In recent years, Poles' attitudes towards homosexuals have been liberalising rapidly. Respondents' approval of gay and lesbian rights in all three areas we asked about – public display of their way of life, entering into marriage, and adopting children – was the highest in the history of our research already in the previous survey, and it has increased significantly now. The percentage of Poles who believe that gays and lesbians should have the right to publicly show their way of life has increased by 9 percentage points from 34% three years ago to 43% now, and the share of those who believe that they should be able to enter into marriage has increased by 10 points from 34% to 44%. In both cases, the level of support is now only a few points lower than the opposition. The most controversial issue is adoption of children by homosexual couples. It is now supported by almost a quarter (23%, compared to 16% three years ago). Five years ago this percentage was less than half of that.

Should gay and lesbian couples, i.e. two people of the same sex in an intimate relationship, have the right to:

Since 2008, the percentage of respondents who personally know someone with a homosexual orientation has also grown steadily. In 2024, this proportion increased by 4 percentage points compared to the previous survey and reached a record level of 47%, i.e. almost half of Poles now claim that they personally know a gay or lesbian person. This is more than three times more than sixteen years ago, when this share was 15%. The dynamic increase is probably due to the growing openness with which homosexual people reveal their orientation. This trend seems to be closely intertwined with the general liberalization of Polish society. On the one hand, a more favourable environment makes it increasingly easier for gays and lesbians to come out, and on the other hand, as the analyses of cross-tabulations show, personal acquaintance with a gay or lesbian is related to a more favourable attitude towards the rights of such people.

Do you personally know a gay or a lesbian?

We also asked Poles to describe their attitudes towards homosexuals on a 7-point scale, where 1 means a great deal of rejection and 7 means complete acceptance. The results show that despite the general liberalization of society, Poles remain divided in their personal attitudes towards gays and lesbians. Although the accepting attitudes in the range of 5-7 dominate (43%), the percentage of declarations of aversion in the range 1-3 is only slightly lower (36%). One-fifth have an ambivalent attitude towards homosexuals, i.e. neither good nor bad (19%).

How would you describe your attitude towards gays and lesbians? If we assume that 1 means a great deal of rejection and 7 means complete acceptance, where would you place yourself on this scale?