Warsaw Gay Group and the Homophobia of Law and Justice Party (PiS)
Letter to the
Editor
From the President
of
Kampania Przeciw Homofobii
(Campaign Against Homophobia)
He claimed that he
did not believe “the Law and Justice Party are homophobic”.
In such case we are afraid that he
has been misinformed about the extent of PiS’s homophobic sentiments.
It is worth
reminding Mr. Cameron that the current President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski,
banned the Pride parade in Warsaw twice while he was mayor of the city and
member of the PiS party.
Later, when PiS
gained control of the government in 2005, the Minister of Culture Kazimierz
Michał Ujazdowski said: “We should not confuse brutal homosexual propaganda
with the calls for tolerance. This
is some sort of madness, and from the point of view of that madness, our
rule will be a black night.”
In many senses,
their rule was a black night as their government took many measures to take
away the rights of LGBT people, such as a proposed bill to ban homosexual
propaganda in schools which propagated a sense of terror amongst teachers
and students regarding an already highly stigmatized group.
It is true that
the PiS party is against same-sex marriage and adoption.
However, we do not feel this is
adequate in judging if PiS is homophobic. Because
not only is PiS against same-sex marriage, but they are also against any
form of registered partnerships, they oppose including homophobic hate
crimes as criminal in the penal code and many other measures which would
assist in gaining full rights for LGBT citizens of Poland.
Although members
of the PiS party claim to be for equal rights, their political record shows
exactly the opposite. We must
remember that Poland is not a Catholic country, but a democratic country
ruled by a Constitution which bans discrimination on all grounds.
Therefore the
civil and political rights of LGBT people in Poland can not be dismissed by
claiming an opposition to a “European superstate”. We hope that Mr. Cameron
if elected Prime-minister will rather uphold the standards of universal
human rights in all European countries.
Marta Abramowicz
President,
Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (Campaign Against Homophobia)
Warsaw, October
8, 2009
SEE ALSO
Polish Gays Cite Homophobic Remarks by PiS Party Politicians. This
morning, the gay advocacy group in Poland,
Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (Campaign Against
Homophobia), released a letter pointing out that
the UK Conservative Party was misinformed when
they say that their new political allies in the
European Parliament, the Polish Law and Justice
Party, were not homophobic.
(UK Gay News, October 8, 2009)
Polish PiS Party Will Not Apologise to Gays for Its
Homophobia. Commentary. The recent
statement by William Hague, a former leader of the
British Conservatives, that his party’s new
political allies in the European Parliament, the
Polish
Law and Justice Party (PiS) had moderated their
views on gays and gay rights has been dismissed in
Poland. (UK Gay News, July 7, 2009)