Look who's talking
"Homosexuality is an addiction. Like pornography, the internet, shopping and contraception," claimed another.
Guess who
Was it skinheads who said this? Juvenile delinquents from suburban apartment blocks? Tattooed and boozed-up hooligans clad in studded, black-leather jackets? No. The first statement came from the mouth of Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Roman Giertych, speaking in public shortly after the end of the Equality Parade in Warsaw. The second quote is a statement from an adviser to Giertych, expressed in the Polish Parliament at a sitting of the Commission on the Family.
It should be noted that among the participants in this year's parade were European politicians (bridging the spectrum from Greens to Christian Democrats), who came to Warsaw because of their concern about breaches of human rights.
The President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, doesn't look like a skinhead either, although in his former role as Mayor of Warsaw he prevented the Equality Parade from taking place in the Polish capital, stating: "I won't ban their demonstration, if they hold it as citizens and not as homosexuals."
Litmus test for democracy
Attitudes towards homosexuals, to people of other nationalities and races are usually strong reflectors of the state of democracy in a given country. If, however, the very rulers of a country express views which can be interpreted by various social and minority groups as discriminatory - as is the case in Poland - it means that the authorities are in danger of moving beyond the edge of freedom and tolerance. Moreover, the present Polish authorities are actively trying to bring more and more spheres of civil life under their control.
Recent legislation is giving the government more and more control over areas which have enjoyed an admirable degree of autonomy up to now. These include the judiciary as well as foundations concerned with scientific and educational issues, rural development and the advance of democracy, among others. This is because Poland's coalition government has decided that soon it will install its own people in key positions in these foundations, a decision which will mark the end of the foundations' independence.
Sneering at Europe
Deputy Prime Minister Giertych's homophobic statements were uttered in a specific setting. The European Union has declared 2007 to be the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. The Union has decided that the main aim of the European Year 2007 will be to raise awareness about the European legislation in force concerning non-discrimination and to enable communities which are victims of discrimination to exercise their rights.
What does Minister Giertych have to say about this? With a curled lip he announced that he would not admit anyone into Polish schools who "would spread gay propaganda, on the same basis that I would not admit into schools those who would want to spread Nazi or communist propaganda." It's certain that many Polish pupils saw this on television. Will they start to think that a gay friend from their class is as dangerous as a platoon of SS soldiers?
Polish intellectuals, politicians from the democratic and liberal opposition and representatives of NGOs are seeking support in Brussels for their activities, which oppose intolerance and limitations on civil liberties in Poland - so far to little effect. Deputy Prime Minister Giertych and other activists from his circle have by no means refrained from making their extreme statements.
Joanna Wóycicka is the former head of the foreign section of the Życie Warszawy and Życie newspapers and the former head of the foreign department at the Polish Press Agency (PAP)
