I spent a week in Poland and saw homosexual girls passionately kissing in the public and more burkas than I have expected. Overall more liberal than I have expected from the public image we see here in Lithuania.
France is liberal place. No discussion here. Burqas ban is not changing that. In my opinion, context is important. Poland being Islamophobic, while France is not.
There have of course been illiberal but left-wing states that are willing to say exactly that. Most Communist governments have banned religion of any form on the grounds that the state knows better, but I don't think those governments are usually called "liberal."