Being LGBTQ+ In Poland
In a country where your sexual identity is considered part of a wider, damaging ‘ideology’-simply existing is an act of resistance. Such is the case of Poland, which is home to some 38 million people and is one of Europe’s most Catholic countries with about 86% of the population identifying as Roman Catholic. It has been called one of the ‘worst country in the EU for LGBT rights’ where an anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is echoed by politicians and figures in Poland’s influential Catholic Church.
‘LGBT-Free Zones’
Around 100 towns and regions across Poland since early 2019 have passed resolutions, declaring themselves free of “LGBT ideology”. According to an “Atlas of Hate” map created by activists, an area greater than the size of Hungary has effectively become an “LGBT-free zone”. The Polish Embassy in the United States released a statement claiming that the zones- which cover one third of Poland- are “legally non-binding declarations that have been adopted by a small minority of local governments in Poland”.
One of the resolutions, passed in April 2019 by the local council in Ryki, a town 100 kilometres southeast of Warsaw, says its purpose is to “defend children, youth, families, and Polish schools from sexual depravity and indoctrination, which lead to many pathologies already existing in Western countries, such as accepting pornography, abortion, sexual criminality, the crisis of the family and many others”.
While these resolutions are not legally binding and mostly ‘symbolic’ they are entirely discriminatory and undermine the rights of those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. It reflects the views of an overwhelming number of local officials and individuals who have continued to fuel the hostility towards members of the minority community. In response to these detrimental resolutions, the EU has blocked funding for 6 towns who claim to be “LGBT-Free Zones”. In late July, the European Commission said it was affirming that the union stands for equality for all people and would withhold development funding for 6 Polish municipalities (which have not been identified).
"EU values and fundamental rights must be respected by Member States and state authorities," European Commissioner for Equality, this is why six town-twinning applications involving Polish authorities that adopted LGBTI free zones’ or ‘family rights’ resolutions were rejected” Helena Dalli, wrote on Twitter.
This reaction is a reminder that the European Commission’s funding to member states cannot and should not be improperly used by countries like Poland who persistently breach fundamental rights which are core to EU membership. While many local councils like the one in Ryki have come up with their own resolutions opposing ‘LGBT ideology’, 34 others have attempted to conceal their homophobia with a“Municipal Charter of Family Rights”. Despite the ‘pro-family’ charter not explicitly referring to ‘anti-LGBT ideology’ or propaganda, putting family values of the forefront of these blatantly homophobic resolutions implies that being part of the LGBTQ+ community is a threat to the family unit.
Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in Poland
As outrageous as these “LGBT-free zones” may seem, politicians and government officials have contributed to the growing resentment towards what has been referred to as the ‘LGBT ideology’. The non-binding resolutions coincide with a rise in rhetoric by the government Law and Justice Party (PiS) denouncing 'LGBT ideology’ as an allegedly foreign concept imported from the US and Western Europe- one which is a direct threat to the traditional heterosexual Polish family.
In a campaign when he stood for re-election, President Andrzej Duda called the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights an ideology ‘even more destructive’ than Communism. Politicians like Duda have expressed their concern towards what magazine editor Tomazs Sakieiwicz describes as ‘aggressive ideology promoting homosexuality’.
“The year 2015 when the Law and Justice party came into power, is a significant pivotal moment marking the beginning in systematic decline in the quality of living conditions of the LGBT community in Poland.”- Karolina Gierdal, lawyer at the Campaign Against Homophobia, a Warsaw-based rights group
Since their election success in 2015, the PiS has continued to deploy their inflammatory anti-LGBT rhetoric that has helped fuel homophobic violence across Poland, including during the protests in August this year.
On August 7th, hundreds of LGBTQ+ protestors marched the streets in Warsaw on August 7th to demonstrate against the arrest of 22 year old non-binary activist Margot Szutowicz. Margot is the co-founder of queer collective Stop Bzdurom (Stop Bullshit) and was arrested in June for causing damage to a truck that had been promoting discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ homophobia, but was released shortly after. After her re-arrest on August 7th, protests erupted and the Polish police detained 48 people who were protesting in solidarity with the jailed activist.
It is important to note that while the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has intensified, an equal amount of solidarity and support has increased. The August protests saw politicians and lawyers rallying in support for the LGTBQ+ community, and the powerful protests have been dubbed as the ‘Polish Stone Wall.’ Solidarity marches took place in Hungary and New York, and Stop Bzdurom used its growing network to raise more than 18,000 Euros to support activists.
At the end of September, ambassadors from 50 countries including Poland’s EU partners, urged the Polish government to ‘protect all citizens from violence and discrimination’- especially communities in need of protection. You can read the letter here.
‘Attitudes towards the LGBTQ community have come a long way’ - Robert Biedron, Poland’s first openly gay and atheistic politician
The wave of global support for Poland’s LGBTQ+ community will continue to grow and underline the importance of queer community and solidarity across borders. Moreover, EU member states must take more concrete action to ensure that Poland’s government takes the appropriate steps to ensure the protection of the LGTBQ+ community.
In September 2020 Photographer Filip Skiba travelled to Warsaw to document the LGBTQ+ community. Through this he intends to gain a better understanding about how the LGBTQ+ community in Poland live with the representations that society and government create for them. Through interviews and the medium of photography, Filips practice has enabled him to help marginalised people, giving them a voice and place in society.
Below are some images accompanied by interviews from his recent trip to Warsaw
Lu, from Łódź, 21, From Warsaw
What is it like being LGBTQ+ in Poland ?
Being LGBTQ+ in Poland is a little suicidal in some sense. My good friend said “If you’re in Poland as a part of the queer community, within the package you get suicidal thoughts and depression” It depends on where you are LGBTQ+ in Poland, if your in a space where you have other people then the queer community is just great and it can do amazing this for someone and lead them in a great path. But if you don’t have support being LGBTQ+ then it’s pretty fucked up. Due to the fact that there’s a smear campaign from the government. Whoever you have in mind, people in power… they hate us. The challenges… Damn, getting to your 20’s that’s that’s the first challenge which testifies to the amount of suicides we have of young people in Poland.. sorry for driving in such depressing manner but it’s kinda true. In Poland the suicides have been very loud, so getting to your 20’s! Not hiding and licking the shoes of the right wingers because it’’s easy to get in the mind-set that if I’m going to be less gay or queer, then maybe they won’t see me and beat me up. It’s a big challenge to not lose your identity. It’s not bad to be scared and give up then it’s their case, but we feel bad about it. We don’t feel bad about the people who create these challenges.
DJ name automat, 33, from Torun but lives in Warsaw.
Do you think electing Andrzej Duda as president will effect the younger generation of LGBTQ+ individuals?
To be honest it made me feel angry because he’s not a legitimate president. The campaign was being led in illegal ways and there have been so many discrepancies in terms of how many votes he got as opposed to Trzaskowski. If everything was done in the right way then he wouldn’t be president
He’s very vocal about the LGBTQ so called ideology- That it’s the worst evil that has ever come to Poland. That’s what they are saying, this is an external threat and it makes you feel like your country doesn’t want you. Which is really disheartening. Especially for someone who is young and growing up and getting to know themselves.
What gives you hope for your future as an LGBTQ+ individual?
It’s been really hard lately to maintain hope because everything has gone to shit in a short amount of time. I’ve seen that the community has become really galvanised because of that and I like it. Back 5-6 years ago we had a more comfortable position in our society and we were getting a little lazy I think and now it’s really apparent that we need to fight for our rights and be viable and spark a discussion. The thing is, the public space in Poland was never any place about discussion for queer people and what it means to be queer, trans, non-binary and bi-sexual. Now everybody is part of this discussion even if they are being fed fake news for being ignorant. It’s just really important that the subject is being brought up.
Alin, He/They, 20, DJ from Warsaw
How does it make you feel that Andrzej Duda has been elected as president?
I was expecting that Anje Duda was going to be picked, I was voting for Trzaskowski within the second round but it wasn’t a perfect election. Within the first round there was Robert Biedroń who’s gay and is the closest to my point of view but doesn’t have realistic plans for the future of Poland. Trzaskowski was my final choice, not wanted but chosen and with Duda. I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that he’s going to be president and because of that I don’t want to stay longer in Poland than I have to, I need to save up and get the fuck out. Generally I think it totally needs to get worse and in an extreme way. So that there would be at least a chance for things to get better, like the revolution. I don’t see how it would happen, there isn’t the circumstance and don’t have it within them to do the revolution. We have a boring fascism in Poland. It's not like they kill or hide us in concentration camps, they just repress us in a low-key way where it's hard to do anything about it. In reality I’m just waiting for global warming.
What’s your relationship with your parents?
This is a long story, my parents are believers. They both are Catholics, my dad is a sane catholic. He doesn’t believe in the church but believes in the truths that are universal. Just be a good person, tell others and do good around you. This is calm, he might not agree with certain things but generally he doesn’t want to make problems. My mother in some sense is the same but she doesn’t see things- I have two siblings and non of us are either heterosexual or cis and my parents, they dont really see that. After I distanced myself from them after moving out at the age of 18, I didn't really contact them then when I did renew this contact for many reasons they wanted to understand. I asked my mum could you refer to me with male pronouns? Her reaction wasn’t no because you’re a girl but “I would have to hear someone say it so that I could alternate myself” this was really cool which I wasn’t expecting to be fair. But there’s a lot of people who have problems with this because people within my surroundings who aren’t heteronormative, don’t have this support from their parents. Like they don’t understand this, they just have a problem to ingest it, but they accept it and they love their children and this is super. It’s worse with people who are on the streets.