Poland’s hateful crusade against LGBT+ folk compared to dehumanising treatment of Jews before World War Two
Robert Biedron, the first openly gay Polish politician and presidential candidate for the left-wing political coalition Lewica, speaks to the media in front of the Presidential Palace on June 17, 2020 in Warsaw, Poland. (Omar Marques/Getty)
A gay Polish politician and MEP has compared the treatment of LGBT+ people in Poland to the way Jewish people were “dehumanised” before World War Two.
Robert Biedron is a gay politician and LGBT+ activist who was appointed by a coalition of centre-left parties in Poland to run for president in this year’s election.
Unfortunately, the 2020 election saw anti-LGBT+ right-wing president Andrzej Duda remain in power, after he made homophobia one of the central pillars of his campaign.
In a “family charter” published ahead of the election, Duda pledged to “prohibit the propagation of this ideology” in public institutions and “defend the institution of marriage” as defined as a “relationship between a women and a man”.
Just days before the election, Duda even even proposed an amendment to Poland’s constitution that would ban same-sex couples from adopting children.
Biedron, speaking ahead of a European Parliament meeting on possible action against Poland because of its treatment of the LGBT+ community, told Reuters: “The president of the republic dehumanises LGBT+ people and calls them ‘not humans’.
“I remember from the schoolbooks that Jewish people [before World War Two] were dehumanised, they were called ‘not humans’, and to me these resemble those times.”
Almost 100 Polish municipal or local governments have proclaimed themselves zones “free from LGBT+ ideology”, covering nearly a third of the country, and last year the European parliament passed a resolution that strongly condemned the “LGBT-free zones”.
Biedron insisted that the Polish government must face punishment for “not respecting the rule of law” in the EU.
He said: “Because what is the European community? It is about the respect for equality, for freedom and for the respect of minorities.”
During his presidential campaign, Biedron was subjected to relentless abuse, and he added: “To be honest, I expected [homophobia].
“But I was an activist for many years, fighting for LGBT+ rights when it was really taboo. So to be a candidate and have the support of so many people is a sign of progress.”
However, he said: “This government won’t change its [anti-LGBT+ policies] in coming years.
“They see it works. They are winning elections because they are being homophobic and transphobic, and we are the perfect scapegoat.”
