Poland has been in the midst of a crisis lately.
Years of hostility towards other LGBT people mean that spirits are reaching a breaking point and the country now faces what many call the ‘Polish stone wall’ as activists fight for equality.
The Stonewall riots marked a turning point in LGBT history. The series of protests, sparked by a police raid on a gay New York location, the Stonewall Inn, in June 1969, was the catalyst for gay and transgender liberation movements.
But while attitudes in the United States and Britain have dramatically replaced since the 1960s, homophobia remains a common place in Poland, even though same-sex and sexual intercourse are legal.
In fact, a vote conducted through Ipsos in October 2019 found that most Polish men under the age of 40 said the LGBT motion was ” the greatest risk they faced in the 21st century’.
In addition, more than a hundred districts in Poland have been declared “LGBT-free zones” with the aim of discriminating against members of the LGBT community.
In December, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of condemning the areas, and they have been declared ‘null and void’, they still exist.
Last month, the European Union began investing in “LGBT-free” district flights, but Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said it would “rescue” one of the districts and provide monetary assistance to other districts.
To learn more about the conversion scenario in Poland, we spoke to members of the Polish LGBT network living in Manchester.
The Polish government told the Manchester Evening News that the equality and dignity of LGBT + other people is enshrined in national laws. But the Polish citizens who have moved here paint a very different picture.
Our talks with them were organised with Europia, a charity that has EU citizens living and operating in Greater Manchester.
“Recently, it turns out that everything is upside down,” says Marcin, 39.
“Public television channels have a very negative and erroneous view of minorities in the 19th century.
“It’s an unedive, sectarian, very destructive symbol they create for their viewers. “
Marcin moved to Manchester after meeting her boyfriend in Krakow.
They left the country to “see what the lives of homosexuals look like here” and have since married and followed a son.
“No one in my pictures is aware of what’s in Poland right now,” he adds.
“There are buses and painted trucks passing through Polish cities and posters that tell everyone that other LGBT people are going to harm children, rape them and convert them.
“Rainbow accessories or outlandish looks cause a crime of hatred verbally or physically. They shout vulgarisms, beat homosexuals and burn rainbow flags.
Since 2015, the Andrzej Duda winger has been president of Poland.
During his years in power, Duda proposed banning LGBT schooling in schools, LGBT couples from adopting children, and described the LGBT motion as a “foreign ideology. “
In July, he was re-elected president.
Anna, 43, left Poland 18 years ago to live with her girlfriend, whom her family circle did not know.
In the last election, Anna said she felt compelled to vote in the hope that the rest of LGBT people living in Poland would be longer.
“I usually do not participate in the Polish vote because I no longer live in it, but this election is so vital to me and my wife.
“We hoped to make adjustments by voting against President Duda, but that didn’t happen.
“I doubt and the Polish government are completely guilty of any hatred of LGBT people. “
President Duda also vetoed a bill that would have allowed other transgender people to legally replace sex without any physical intervention, it has already been approved.
“Other LGBT people in Poland have no rights,” Anna adds.
“They are outdoors in any network or live in lies. When I lived in Poland, I had a friend who was befriending my boyfriend.
“I know many other people who still live a life of worries and lies because they are ‘different’. “
Jo moved to Manchester 15 years ago after her husband performed a task in the city.
“President Duda’s thing has been horrible,” he said.
“It’s just a crusade of smear full of lies. Their party never assumes duty for the terrible things they have done and the mistakes they have made. “
Jo says she felt “devastated” when she learned that President Duda had been re-elected last month.
“No matter how you look at it, it’s bad news, ” he said.
“They are deniers of climate replacement, to replace the letter and avoid the loose press and for the LGBT network will be more dangerous.
Katarzyna, 39, moved to Manchester to pursue an artistic career and says that existence in their home country has made them “ashamed to be Polish. “
“Poland is a deeply Catholic country with a Catholic government,” he said.
“The only way to break all this opposition is to grow the non-secular movement, so respect and tolerance will come naturally.
“I believe that the most productive way to help someone is to preach by example, to show them that we are open, courageous, and above devout expectations, misfortune, and guilt.
“People in Poland want to know that cash and church are not all there is in life, that there is some other way and that the rest of the world also wakes up with self-ceptation as we are, not as we are.
“There are other people willing to help and when other people can get out of strength structures and poles, they can make a selection for themselves about how they need to live their lives.
“When you motivate them, they can realize that too. “
The stage in Poland reached a turning point on 7 August, when activist Malgorzata Szutowicz, known as Margot, was arrested in Warsaw along with 48 other people.
Protesters were arrested in connection with rainbow flags at various monuments.
The turmoil of the incident around the world and sparked a series of additional protests, either in Poland and around the world.
Artur, 34, moved to Manchester after meeting a boy and visiting him for the weekend.
He would leave Poland to fulfill his artistic ambitions and live in a more open city.
“Poland is a position where other people have a very closed mindset and fear things that are aliens, so they are so competitive and homophobic,” Artur says.
“This scenario pushes other LGBTQ people to the margins. They can’t do anything because if they do, they’ll end up in jail or be criticized by the police.
“Provoking all these irrational concepts makes other people more angry, they’re just provoked. “
When asked how different it is to live now in a country where other LGBT people are more accepted, Artur said the difference “is like a huge hole in the ground. “
“Take a look at the news,” he adds. Watch the rainbow flags in Poland be destroyed as they wave freely in Manchester. “
Speaking about Marwere’s arrest, Jo said he was surprised at how temporarily the stage was worst.
“The police were so violent, they did nothing to prevent fascists walking a week earlier,” Jo added.
“They brutally opposed the peacefully manifested young people.
“They did nothing when there were posters hanging from the church with homophobic insults, but other people who hung a rainbow flag now face three years in prison. “
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Jo says she has heard of other young people in Poland who began to oppose the government by placing rainbow flags on monuments and public offices.
He meets someone who put a rainbow flag on the front of the Justice Department and then was arrested.
“I think they’re very brave because they know how much they’re risking,” Jo adds.
“They are very much in the way they fight peacefully for the cause. “
Marcin says he expects a replacement in Poland.
He also hopes to return to Poland one day and enjoy what he enjoyed “without worrying about me and my family. “
“I wish I didn’t have to worry about other people treating us like we’re monsters,” he says.
“I hope that one day my son will have Polish nationality, a Polish passport and that we can be identified as a circle of relatives through Polish law.
“There will probably be a good percentage of homophobes, but I wish I had a law about my appearance that protects me.
“I wish I didn’t have to because I’m an intelligent person, that I’m full of love and that I’m not a pervert.
Marcin added that, to be accepted in Poland, he believes that society wants to know lgbt equality and rights.
“I hope that the law will save us from evil and negativity and that there will be consequences for those who want to harm us in some way.
“I look forward to seeing more openly other LGBT people in the media appearing to everyone that we are part of this society and that we are valuable.
“I need to be proud and be an example of a parent, husband and member of the network. “
More than a month after the arrest of activist Malgorzata Szutowicz, the world is aware of the opportunities that are taking place.
In the UK, demonstrations were held in front of Polish consulates in Edinburgh and Manchester to “show solidarity with Polish activists and other queer people in difficulty. “
Last week, similar demonstrations took place outdoors at Cardiff City Hall.
In an M. E. N. statement, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Poland “remains committed to the precept of an equivalent resource for all people and non-discrimination on any ground. “
“Equality before the law and the general prohibition of discrimination are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which brings these principles into the Polish legal system.
“Other LGBT people are entitled to comprehensive coverage against hatred, violence and discrimination.
“National law systematically promises the equality and dignity of other LGBT people in all spaces of life and fully complies with foreign human rights standards.
“The provision of equality and the prohibition of discrimination, enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, is accompanied by a wide variety of legal guarantees, adding the option of coverage through a constitutional denunciation.
“Polish law, adding the anti-discrimination law and the hard work code, fully reflects the criteria expressed in the EU directives on coverage opposed to discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and type identity. “
For more information on Europia paintings in Manchester for EU citizens, you can stop by their online page here.