A Polish campaign group on Wednesday said that around 30 communities including villages and regional assemblies in the devout Catholic country had in recent months declared themselves to be “free of LGBT ideology”. Homosexuality is a frequent topic of public debate in the EU member, whose conservative ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski condemned gay rights as a “threat” in April. “There are currently around 30 local authorities that have adopted such (anti-LGBT) statements,” said Magdalena Swider, an official with the Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH) non-profit group. “It’s a direct response to an anti-discrimination declaration adopted by Warsaw city hall in February to act in favour of the LGBT community,” she told AFP. Criticising the declaration, Kaczynski’s right-wing governing Law and Justice (PiS) party has put LGBT rights at the centre of political debate ahead of this autumn’s general election. Acting in response to what it termed an “ideological war”, the eastern town of Swidnik announced in March that it was “free of LGBT ideology”.