WARSAW, March 28, 2006  –  In an astonishing development this evening at Le Madame night spot, the Mayor Brodowski of Warsaw Innercity has ruled out any immediate eviction of the peaceful protestors inside the city’s legendary club.

The Mayor said that it was too dangerous for the police to act and evict the 200 protestors who are refusing to leave following the enforced closing of the club at the weekend.

Instead, the Mayor has sent the matter to the courts which effectively means that there will be police action for at least 24 hours – possibly 48 hours.

Earlier, Mayor Brodowski met with Krystian Legierski, the owner of Le Madame.  “The mayor said that they would try and find some solution,” Legierski said after the meeting.

Speaking on the telephone from the club, Kasia Szustof, artistic director of Le Madame said that the police had now withdrawn.

“The told us that they would not be returning until Thursday  – but we don't believe them,” she said.

Ms. Szustof added that about 30 supporters were preparing to spend the night on the premises.   

The Two Who Stole Le Madame:  Polish Political Twins Target Gay Club  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.  (UK Gay News, March 28, 2006)

The Siege of Le Madame: A Polish Stonewall?  By Doug Ireland. This week saw dramatic new evidence of the ultra-conservative and homophobic atmosphere reigning in Poland since the election last October of a new hard-right government led by the reactionary, gay-baiting President Lech Kacynski and his equally queer-bashing twin brother Jaroslav, who controls the Polish parliament. (Direland, March 29, 2006)

RELATED

BBC TV: Polish President Sparks Protests.  Video report. Gay and lesbian activists have disrupted a speech by the Polish President Lech Kaczynski during a visit to Berlin. (March 10, 2006)