Pride and prejudice: Poland at war over gay rights before vote
Published Aug 9, 2019 02:19 pm
By Agence France-Presse
Poland's October general election is shaping up to be dominated neither by the economy nor politics as the devout Catholic country goes to war over LGBT rights, denounced by the governing conservatives and an archbishop as a "threat" to their way of life.
Protesters demand the resignation of Krakow Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski who stirred outrage by warning against an "LGBT plague" in Poland (AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
Homosexuality became the hottest electoral issue after PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski condemned gay rights as a "threat" in April and put the issue high on his party's campaign agenda.
The leftist opposition has seized recent sparring over LGBT as an opportunity to slam the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party for its close alliance with the influential Catholic Church.
"For the PiS, it's political fuel. It allows the party to reaffirm its political identity, its attachment to traditional values in the face of the wave of Westernisation," political analyst Stanislaw Mocek told AFP.
"But the other side has also found a political weapon there, in the form of defending minority rights."
Poland remains staunchly Catholic and conservatives are increasingly campaigning against LGBT, or gender "ideology" which they believe threatens traditional family values.
In May, a woman put up posters of the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo, prompting police to detain her for "desecration".
Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski tweeted: "All that nonsense about freedom and 'tolerance' doesn't give ANYONE the right to insult the faithful's beliefs."
In July a court ordered news magazine Gazeta Polska to halt the distribution of anti-gay stickers reading "This is an LGBT-free zone".
The caption picked up on a trend at local government level where PiS allies have declared themselves "free of LGBT ideology".
Also last month, weekend violence marred the first gay pride parade in the eastern Polish city of Bialystok where football hooligans, some with far-right sympathies, attacked marchers and police.
The incident sparked a series of protests with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemning the violence but failing to speak out against the anti-LGBT campaign.
Protesters demand the resignation of Krakow Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski who stirred outrage by warning against an "LGBT plague" in Poland (AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
Homosexuality became the hottest electoral issue after PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski condemned gay rights as a "threat" in April and put the issue high on his party's campaign agenda.
The leftist opposition has seized recent sparring over LGBT as an opportunity to slam the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party for its close alliance with the influential Catholic Church.
"For the PiS, it's political fuel. It allows the party to reaffirm its political identity, its attachment to traditional values in the face of the wave of Westernisation," political analyst Stanislaw Mocek told AFP.
"But the other side has also found a political weapon there, in the form of defending minority rights."
Poland remains staunchly Catholic and conservatives are increasingly campaigning against LGBT, or gender "ideology" which they believe threatens traditional family values.
In May, a woman put up posters of the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo, prompting police to detain her for "desecration".
Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski tweeted: "All that nonsense about freedom and 'tolerance' doesn't give ANYONE the right to insult the faithful's beliefs."
In July a court ordered news magazine Gazeta Polska to halt the distribution of anti-gay stickers reading "This is an LGBT-free zone".
The caption picked up on a trend at local government level where PiS allies have declared themselves "free of LGBT ideology".
Also last month, weekend violence marred the first gay pride parade in the eastern Polish city of Bialystok where football hooligans, some with far-right sympathies, attacked marchers and police.
The incident sparked a series of protests with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemning the violence but failing to speak out against the anti-LGBT campaign.