Riding support from Poland's right-wing populist Law and Justice Party and the local Roman Catholic clergy, nearly 100 provinces and municipalities in 2019 passed symbolic resolutions declaring themselves "LGBT-free."

But two years later, and the central government is asking them to repeal those declarations after the European Union threatened to cut off millions of euros in funding to local and provincial governments that took an anti-LGBT stance. By doing so, they may be in violation of the EU's regulations against discrimination due to sexual orientation, the European Commission says.

Early this month, the EC wrote to five regional councils in Poland calling on them to rescind their "LGBT-free" stance if they wanted to continue receiving funding, according to Reuters.