■ We shall not be moved.  The scene at Le Madame in Warsaw this morning. In foreground at right is noted Polish feminist Kazimiera Szczuka, a member of the Polish Green Party and well-known presenter of two television programmes on TVN. (photo courtesy Lukasz Palucki)

WARSAW, March 28, 2006  –  Officially, Warsaw’s famed Le Madame club  – once a gay club, but more recently a venue for everyone, “gay, straight, whatever” – should have closed at the weekend.

But some habitués have decided this is not to be and are refusing to leave the haven of left-wing thought and expression in a right-wing country.

The problem is that Le Madame, where the eccentric decor is only surpassed by its eccentric clientele, became too popular.  The hottest nightspot in town and, in the daytime, the coolest place to chill out visiting an exhibition or listening to a political debate.

Definitely too darn hot for the Kaczynski twins, formally kiddie film stars (“The Two Who Stole The Moon”) and now movers and shakers of the Law and Justice Party, who run the country – one as President (and former Mayor of Warsaw) and the other as party leader.

The Burghers of Warsaw, the Law and Justice Party, tried every trick in the book to close the place.  But to no avail.  So they purchased the building, and gave Le Madame marching orders.

But ‘madame’ is not quitting quietly.

Some 200 are refusing to leave the Kozla Street club in Warsaw's historic 'old town'.  The club is now surrounded by the cops and the press corps. 

Yesterday, a legal official from City Hall said that the cops should attack.  But the only people to enter the building have been well-wishers – including many women and children – all the leaders of the ‘leftist’ political parties, and the media.

“We have plenty of food and water,” said a defiant Lukasz Palucki, a gay activist with Lambda Warsaw and one of the organizers of Warsaw Pride, another institution hated by the Kaczynski twins.

“We will not give up.  Today, the whole of Poland looks at Le Madame.”

■ Krystian Legierski, owner of Le Madame, is interviewed by Polish media.  Legierski is also an activist with Lambda Warsaw. (photo courtesy Lukasz Palucki)