On May 0, 2023, we announced the nationwide results of this year's edition of the LGBTQ+ Friendly Schools Ranking. As the GrowSPACE Foundation, which is the operator of the project, we are concerned and disturbed by the words of The Children's Ombudsman, Mikołaj Pawlak.

During the conference of the "Church-Education-Upbringing" conference organized in the monastery in Wigry by the "Europa Christi" movement, the spokesperson announced that the institutions included in the Ranking of LGBTQ+ Friendly Schools would be inspected. He announced that he would "check what exactly this friendliness manifests itself in".

As the organizers of the LGBTQ+ Friendly Schools Ranking, we are concerned that schools that students assess as friendly may experience unjustified problems and allegations. May 26 at At 10:00 we held a press conference at the office of the Ombudsman for Children. During the conference, we expressed concern about Mikołaj Pawlak's words and presented a document called "Legal Shield", supporting the school in the event of an inspection, which can be downloaded here: [link].

The assumptions of the Legal Shield for schools are as follows:

Schools are not doing anything wrong or illegal. LGBTQ+ community-friendly schools fulfill their obligations in terms of the educational role of the institutions.

The LGBTQ+ Friendly Schools Ranking is legal. Students have the right to act against exclusion. The ranking is based on the votes of young people themselves and measures the atmosphere in the facility.

The highest document in Polish law, i.e. the Constitution, ensures equality of all persons before the law. This also applies to internal school law.

Tolerance and freedom are enshrined in the preamble of the education law. The same law requires schools to ensure the safety of all young people. Schools in the Ranking fulfill this obligation.