It should be common sense to just… not say that people deserve death but apparently that goes over the heads of some people, namely a former IKEA employee who wrote homophobic messages on the Swedish furniture store’s communication network. The manager at the Warsaw store caught wind of this and fired the employee, but was met with legal action as he has been charged by prosecutor Marcin Sadus with violating religious rights, according to Washington Post.
The employee who wrote the bigoted messages has been identified as Tomasz K. He allegedly wrote Biblical passages that suggested that LGBT people deserve death, quoting the Old Testament and saying that blood is the fate that awaits gay people. Charming. He did so in protest of IKEA declaring days of solidarity with LGBT people last year. Understandably, given IKEA’s pro-gay stance, the manager did not want what Tomasz wrote in any way affiliated with IKEA so he fired him. This caused backlash by Poland’s conservative party and its leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who denounced the gay rights movement in Poland and said that it’s dangerous for the country’s national identity and its youths. ‘
The charges that have been brought by the Warsaw prosecutor’s office could potentially send the human resources manager to pay a fine or serve time in prison. Personally I think this is a bit of an overreaction, but Poland is a very extremely conservative Catholic country.
IKEA’s press office has said that they are working with the prosecutor and that the store will “provide all the help and support to our charged co-worker.” And the manager might need that help and support, because like I mentioned before, pro-LGBT views are generally frowned upon in Poland.
Sadus defended Mr. K’s actions by saying that he felt that the days supporting LGBT people went against his religious beliefs and convictions and that his quotes were not an attack on any specific person. What they both fail to realize that Tomasz could have just not acknowledged those days but instead he decided to display his potentially damaging opinions to his coworkers, some of whom might be LGBT. What’s important to remember is that religious beliefs ≠ homophobia and that homophobia ≠ religious beliefs and that people who push their religion on people as a way to discriminate should not be taken seriously.
Source: Washington Post