Poland: Official homophobia threatens human rights

As a new government in Poland brings to power officials with long records of opposing gay and lesbian rights, it is more important than ever for the country’s leadership to affirm all citizens’ equality, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Polish President Lech Kaczynski. On January 18 the European Parliament, motivated by rising homophobia in Poland and other eastern European states, overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on all EU member countries “firmly to condemn homophobic hate speech or incitement to hatred and violence.” “As mayor of Warsaw, President Kaczynski opposed the right of lesbian and gay people to basic freedoms and equal respect,” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “As president, he will determine whether Poland protects rights or chips away at them. Europe is waiting for the answer.” In 2004 and 2005, while mayor of Warsaw, Kaczynski banned gay pride parades planned for the city, accusing them of “propagating gay orientation.” He refused to meet with the parade organizers, saying, "I am not willing to meet perverts." When marchers defied the ban and peacefully demonstrated in 2004, skinheads associated with the far-right All-Polish Youth violently attacked them. Kaczynski condemned police for interfering with the skinheads, but not the marchers.