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Tag: Poland News

Get the latest LGBT+ Poland news from THEGAYUK. Breaking news, features and interviews from the gay community in Poland.

  • UNDER THREAT: Council Of Europe “concerned” For Safety And Rights Of LGBT+ People Of Poland

    UNDER THREAT: Council Of Europe “concerned” For Safety And Rights Of LGBT+ People Of Poland

    Delegates from the Council of Europe have said that they are “concerned” for gay people’s rights and safety in Poland after a fact-finding mission in the country found that some local and regional authorities had adopted so-called “anti-LGBT ideology”.

    In a statement they wrote,

    “Sexual orientation has become a polarising issue in Polish society; this is also increasingly reflected in local and regional authorities, some of which have adopted so-called “anti-LGBTI ideology” resolutions and declarations, and family charters” noted the members of the Congress delegation.

    They added, “We are concerned about the negative impact this situation has on LGBTI people’s lives, rights and safety”.

    Fact-finding

    On 2 and 3 November 2020, the delegation gathered facts and insight from the government, parliamentarians, the ombudsman, local and regional authorities and their associations, and NGOs.

    Referring to the European Convention on Human Rights ratified by Poland in 1993, the delegation recalled that Article 14 expressly prohibits discrimination on all grounds and protects everyone including LGBT+ people.

    “Local authorities have a crucial role in upholding citizens’ rights as well as promoting dialogue and social cohesion”, they stressed.

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    A report on the fact-finding mission will be submitted to the Congress and other Council of Europe institutions and the findings will serve for the preparation of a report on “the role and responsibilities of local authorities in the protection of LGBTI people” to be considered by the Congress early 2021.

  • The Council of Europe is conducting a “fact-finding” mission of LGBT+ issues faced in Poland… Finally

    The Council of Europe is conducting a “fact-finding” mission of LGBT+ issues faced in Poland… Finally

    After years of reports of how bad things have gotten for LGBT+ people in Poland, the Council of Europe, the continent’s “leading human rights organisation” is to send an investigation team on a “fact-finding” mission to find out about the issues facing LGBT+ people in the country.

    LGBT+ people living in Poland have become increasingly targeted because of their sexuality and gender identity. The country recently reelected the EU’s most homophobic leader, Andrzej Duda, who, as part of his election strategy, used anti-LGBT+ rhetoric in his campaigning.

    Polish MPs requested the mission

    The mission, according to the Council of Europe has been organised after members of the Polish parliament requested it, after increasing attacks and discrimination against gay, lesbian, bi and transgender people.

    The delegation, which will investigate on the 2nd and 3rd November will meet with various Polish authorities including: Hanna Gill- Piątek, Coordinator of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Cities, Krzysztof Śmiszek, Chairman of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Equal Rights of LGBT+ Community, Adam Bodnar, Commissioner for Human Rights, Anna Schmidt-Rodziewicz, Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment from the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social policy, and MEP Robert Biedroń, founder of the Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH).

    flag of poland
    Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

    Meetings with local and regional governments include Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw, Nina Gabryś, Chair of the Council for Equal Treatment of Krakow, Witold Kozlowski, Marshall of the voivodeship of Lesser Poland, Jaroslaw Stawiarski, Marshall of the voivodeship of Lublin, Paweł Okrasa, Mayor of Wieluń, Zygmunt Frankiewicz, President of the Association of Polish Cities, and Olgierd Geblewicz, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Union of the Provinces of the Republic of Poland.

    Representatives of several NGOs, namely, Lambda Warsawa, Lublin Equality March Association, Love Does Not Exclude, Tęczowy Białystok, Trans-Fuzja and Atlas nienawiści have also been invited to meet with the Delegation.

    Reminding governments of their responsibilities

    The results of the fact-finding will be brought to the attention of the Congress and other bodies. They will also provide input for the Congress report on “the role and responsibilities of local governments in protecting LGBTI+ persons”.

    The Council Of Europe has 47 members, 27 of which, including Poland are in the EU.

  • Polish police seen kneeling on the neck of LGBT+ activist during a street protest

    Polish police seen kneeling on the neck of LGBT+ activist during a street protest

    LGBT+ campaigners in Poland have taken to the streets after a leading activist was given a two-month prison sentence.

    Earlier this week, the LGBT+ activist was also detained for 48 hours after taking a picture with a rainbow flag in front of a statue of Jesus Christ. 

    Hundreds of LGBT+ people and their allies took the streets in Warsaw in protest in front of the Campaign Against Homophobia offices.

    According to sources, at least 48 people were detained and several were injured according to reports. Footage from the protest shows a wall of police becoming heavyhanded with the protesters, with some of the activists comparing the scenes that unfolded to the 1969 Stonewall riots.

    Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

    Poland now has one of the most anti-LGBT+ leaders in the EU after Andrzej Duda was recently re-elected thanks to an aggressive anti-LGBT campaign.

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    Photos from the protests flooded social media, including one of an activist with what looks like a policeperson’s knee on their neck, many users on Twitter remarked that the actions of the police and their treatment of the protesters echoed the horrific footage of a policeman’s knee on the neck of George Floyd in the USA, which sparked the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests.

    Shocking pictures from the protests

    LGBT Activist, Remy Bonny has called on the EU to “convene an extraordinary session of the @EUCouncil on the authoritarian events that have taken place in Poland over the last weeks.

    He added, “There is no way to deny that the events that took place in Poland Yesterday is the prelude of the establishment of a dangerous dictatorship in the middle of the European Union.

    “A Europe without values is not worthy to be called a ‘Union’!”

  • The EU’s most anti-LGBT+ leader has been reelected in Poland

    The EU’s most anti-LGBT+ leader has been reelected in Poland

    In a blow to LGBT+ rights activists in Poland, Andrzej Duda from the far-right wing Law and Justice Party has won the presidential election. However, he only won the election with a tiny majority, with only 51.2 per cent of the votes.

    Duda ran an electoral campaign which heavily vilified the LGBT+ community, calling it a “destructive” force.

    flag of poland
    Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

    The tiny majority is the tightest win Poland has ever had. Rafal Trzaskowski, the current major of Warsaw, who runs on a liberal platform narrowly lost with 48.8 per cent of the vote.

    During Duda’s campaign, he signed one of the most anti-LGBT charters in the EU against what he calls the “LGBT Ideology”, which he said was “more destructive than communist indoctrination”.

    Embed from Getty Images

    The charter defends the “institution of marriage” which means that there is no acceptance of gay marriage.

    He’ll also refuses to accept allowing gay couples to adopt children.

    Poland has the worst LGBT+ rights for any EU country

    Poland’s lags way behind its fellow EU countries when it comes to LGBT+ rights according to Rainbow-Europe.org. It has just a 15.8 per cent approval rating, compared to Malta which sits at the top with nearly 90 per cent approval. Neighbouring countries to Poland, Lituania, Belarus, Slovakia and the Czech Republic all fall well below 50 per cent on the scale.

  • Poland’s President just signed an extremely anti-gay charter

    It’s Pride month across the world, but that hasn’t deterred Poland‘s President Andrzej Duda signing one of the most anti-LGBT+ charters in the EU.

    The charter defends the “institution of marriage” which means that there is no acceptance of gay marriage.

    He’ll also refuses to accept allowing gay couples to adopt children

    and says that he will protect children from an “LGBT ideology”.

    Embed from Getty Images

    Poland’s biggest LGBTQI-organisation KPH (Campaign Against Homophobia) have criticised the President, saying that he is using the anti-gay charter as a way of bolstering his presidential campaign ahead of the elections on the 28th June 2020

    https://twitter.com/spychalski_b/status/1270638272931401728

    In a statement they wrote, “We have no doubt that he’s just playing his presidential campaign game trying to gain the electorate by setting it on LGBT persons.”

    “A choice between European values and Russian traditional values”

    Rémy Bonny an expert on LGBTQI-politics in Central & Eastern Europe told us, “The elections are a choice between European values and Russian traditional values – a choice between democracy and autocracy. The elections will eventually decide on the future of Poland within the European Union.

    “Over the last decade, the LGBTQI-community became well-organised and very visible in Poland. The government is afraid that a professional and vibrant civil rights movement would overthrow their corrupt and elitist rule for a real equality-based government.

    No such thing as “LGBT Ideology”

    The Polish activists from KPH directly reach out to President Duda in an open letter to say,

    “Mister President, let us say it out loudly and clearly once again: there is no such thing as the ‘LGBT ideology’ – it’s just a homophobic construct. LGBTs are lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender persons who personally experience the consequences of homophobic and transphobic hate which you also fuel.

    “Those people are Kacper, Dominik and Milo, who are no longer here with us, because the homophobic propaganda of the profit-oriented authorities killed them.

     “It’s time to change it and we will do it! We will remember about it, Mister President and we will settle accounts with you by the ballot boxes. Let June 28th be the day when freedom, respect and mutual solidarity in Poland prevails!”, KPH concludes

    The LGBTQI-community is in the frontline of the far-right PiS-government’s fight against liberal democracy.”, Bonny continues. 

  • Poland is about to get its first TV commercial featuring a gay couple

    Poland is about to get its first TV commercial featuring a gay couple

    Despite the backlash that the gay community is receiving in Poland, husbands Jakub and David are about to star in a TV advert for a condom brand.

    Durex in Poland has premiered a TV ad which featured Poland’s most famous gay couple, YouTubers, Jakub and Dawid. It’s part of a new campaign called “Loud In Bed” and is expected to air on all major TV channels in the country.

    The ad will also air in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania.

    Previously the couple, who got married in 2017 have received death threats for their activism. In 2016 after releasing a video, which went viral commentators said that the couple should be put in a “gas chamber”.

    Recently the couple took to the streets of Poland to give out rainbow face masks in the fight against Coronavirus and homophobia and the results were a mix of gratitude and threats of violence.

  • Husbands give out rainbow masks in Poland’s notorious “LGBT Free Zones”

    Husbands give out rainbow masks in Poland’s notorious “LGBT Free Zones”

    Husbands Jakub and David took to the streets of Poland to give out rainbow face masks in the fight against Coronavirus and homophobia and the results were a mix of gratitude and threats of violence.

    Poland has had a spotlight shone on its “LGBT Free Zones” recently and as LGBT+ rights are seemingly threatened in this part of Europe, the couple are keen to be visible and work with the public.

    Jakub and David visited three LGBT FREE ZONES in East Poland – small towns called Mordy, Trzebieszów and Biała Podlaska. They gave away over 200 hundreds of rainbow masks in each spot.

    Watching the movie you can see that it wasn’t very safe and anything could happen. Some people didn’t like the rainbow, one man threatened that he would punch their faces if they didn’t leave but the husband’s found most people’s reactions positive.

    Giving away rainbow masks is Jakub’s and David’s way to fight against COVID 19 and homophobia in their country.

    According to the last report of ILGA EUROPE – Poland is the worst country for LGBT people in the European Union so they still have plenty to do in their country

  • Pride In London is calling on the UK Government to intervene on the violation of LGBT+ rights in Poland

    Pride In London is calling on the UK Government to intervene on the violation of LGBT+ rights in Poland

    Pride in London is calling on the UK’s government to help safeguard LGBT+ rights in Poland, where over 100 Polish municipal or local governments have announced that they are “free from LGBTI ideology”.

    The UK’s largest Pride is calling on the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Rabb MP, to intervene directly to safeguard LGBT+ rights.

    Pride in London has expressed serious concerns at the ongoing situation where over 100 Polish municipal or local governments have announced that they are “free from LGBTI ideology”.

    The situation faced by the country’s LGBT+ community has worsened since 2019 when a number of Prides were faced with being banned or had large counter-demonstrations from far-right and nationalist groups.

    The organisation has written to the Foreign Secretary urging him to raise the LGBT+ rights violations in Poland with the Polish Government’s UK Ambassador, Arkady Rzegocki, as a matter of urgency. 

    Alongside this, Pride in London has made a donation to support LGBT+ activists and communities in Poland through the European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) Emergency Fund.

    Michael Salter-Church MBE, Co-Chair of Pride in London, said,

    “50 years on from brave activists taking a stand at Stonewall, the appalling situation in Poland clearly shows that the fight isn’t over. Whilst we remain focused on furthering LGBT+ rights in the UK, we mustn’t forget those abroad who need our support. We must take a stand for our community in countries where their fundamental human rights are not being upheld.

    “This emergency fund will help our siblings in Poland continue their vital work towards equality, and we urge members of the LGBT+ community to donate however they can. Beyond this, we must also continue to speak out in order to raise awareness of these shocking events – we have already seen how international attention can often disrupt the violent plans of Poland’s far-right nationalists.”

    Alongside other Pride organisations across Europe, Pride in London is supporting the work led by EPOA and in January developed an Action Plan with Polish counterparts aimed at strengthening ties with LGBT+ communities in Poland and providing strategic and operational advice. 

    Pride in London remains committed to standing up for LGBT+ communities around the world where their fundamental human rights are not being upheld.

  • This gay couple proposed 100 times on the streets of Poland to film people’s reactions

    This gay couple proposed 100 times on the streets of Poland to film people’s reactions

    Proposing just the once can be nerve-racking enough but this Polish couple did it a whopping 100 times to see what public reactions were like.

    (C) www.rainbowstar.pl

    You may remember Jakub and David as the Polish LGBT activist and vlogger couple who are trying to change the public’s perceptions of LGBT+ people in Poland. Since their very first video, the duo has faced hideous homophobia as well as death threats including a threat to have their throats slit, in their home country of Poland.

    Against all odds, the couple actually tied the knot last year, although not in their home country, because Poland does not yet offer it’s lesbian and gay couples same-sex marriage.

     

    (C) www.rainbowstar.pl

    (C) www.rainbowstar.pl

    To gauge the public’s reaction to two men proposing to each other, Jakub and David took to the streets of Warsaw to propose marriage in front of strangers and filmed their responses.

    They recorded the reactions with hidden cameras and asked unsuspecting members of the public to take part in the experiment, by asking them to film the proposal, without them realising that the proposal would be to another man.

    A spokesperson for the couple, Robert Peszek said, “Surprisingly it turned out that people totally accept them and wished them all the best. They didn’t cut any hates or bad people reactions. It’s absolutely wonderful and enormously uplifting for all LGBT society in Poland what they did.”

  • 12 Places it’s never been illegal to be gay

    Despite homosexuality being outlawed by most countries at some point in history, there are eleven countries and nations in which it has never been against the law to have sex with someone of the same sex.

    12 Places it's never been illegal to be gay
    12 Places it’s never been illegal to be gay

    Many countries have never outlawed female same-sex relationships, however, male on male sexual activity has been outlawed in many country and territories throughout history.

    This is a list of countries where it has never been illegal to be a gay male. This list is not an endorsement of LGBT+ rights in each of these territories, rather that, the governments of each country has never outlawed sex between two men.

    Cambodia

    LGBT citizens of Cambodia may live without discrimination protections or same-sex marriage, but it has never been illegal to be gay and the age of consent is equalised with heterosexuals.

    Côte D’Ivorie

    In private sexual relationships between consenting adults has always been legal in this African nation, which is highly unusual for an African country as the majority of nations on this continent have outlawed sex between two men.

    French Polynesia

    There have never been laws against homosexuality in French Polynesia, it has brilliant protections for LGBT people which are in line with France’s legal system.

    Laos

    There are no specific protections against discrimination for LGBTs but it has never been illegal to be gay.

    Macau

    In Macau homosexuality was never classed a crime per se, however anal sex with someone under the age of 17 is classed as a crime and an offence that carries a 10-year prison sentence.

    Poland

    Poland is one of the few countries where homosexuality has never been considered a crime. Homosexuality was made illegal when Poland lost its independence in 1795 where the sodomy laws of  Russia, Prussia, and Austria came into force in the occupied Polish lands. They were finally abandoned in 1932.

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  • Jakub and Dawid from Poland have just got married against all odds

    Ahhh! So sweet, Jakub and Dawid, the internet sensations from Poland have got married in a stunning cliff side wedding in Madeira.

    CREDIT: Magdalena Sobieska

    Despite the criticism and homophobic they have faced in their homeland, Polish couple Jakub and Dawid have finally tied the knot, although not in their own country because Poland does not yet have same-sex marriage.

    In a statement the couple said,

    “It’s sad that we cannot get married in Poland but we are aware that’s not gonna be changed anytime soon in our country, so decided to have it abroad.

    “I wish our grandmothers and grandfathers were with us but the journey would have been too exhausting them so we really missed them. If we were allowed to have this ceremony in Poland they would have been allowed to share these moments with us”.

    CREDIT: Magdalena Sobieska

    The couple invited 20 members of their family and friends including Dawid’s mum, two brothers and Jakub’s sister according to guests at the wedding the couple’s “dreams finally came true”.

    Congrats guys!!!