Poland’s President Andrzej Duda was sworn into his second term this past Thursday for his second term as the leader of the Eastern European nation. His campaign focused on many things, but one of the most visual was his anti-LGBT platform repeatedly describing the LGBT rights movement as a dangerous “ideology,” declared that LGBT was “not people,” and he formally proposed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex adoption.
Let the exodus begin.
The LGBT citizens fleeing Poland is reminiscent of the holocaust and how LGBTQ citizens were treated, imprisoned, and killed. Will it get to that state once again? Hello? Chechnya?
Bloomberg.com released this video on LGBT People Leaving Poland.
The fear of the rise of the right to even a more oppressive level started being more prominent five years ago when a right-wing populist party won the right to govern Poland. Many knew the change was coming, but maybe it would change for the better. And Poland’s membership in the European Union would protect the LGBTQ community, right? With Duda’s re-election, hope dwindled and things became sorrowful as homophobia is being promoted by the highest levels of government.
While gays and lesbians have never had the legal right to marry or to form civil unions in Poland, as they can in much of Europe, many felt confident until not long ago that Polish society was becoming more accepting and that those rights would one day come.
They have instead faced a furious backlash from the Catholic Church and the government. Duda proposed a constitutional amendment to prevent same-sex couples from adopting children. Last year, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Krakow warned of a “rainbow plague,” and the ruling Law and Justice party has described LGBT rights as a threat to families and Poland’s Catholic identity. – startribune.com
But where will people go? Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, England and other European Union countries might see an increase in LGBT immigrants.
Many escapes from Poland have happened throughout history. When Communism came into Poland, people left. When Poland became a member of the EU, people were able to leave economically challenged Poland to seek out a better life in fellow EU nations. Now, an exodus may occur when people leave, not looking for new jobs, but instead looking for equal rights, dignity, and respect. We hope this does not swing around to another reason to escape Poland, reminiscent of Polish LGBT and Jews fleeing the nation to save their lives during the German occupation during World War II.
But who is leaving and who left during all the above examples? It was people that had the drive and determination to do so, but also the ability. Imagine if you had to uproot your life and move to a foreign country. Do you have the ability, support, money, knowledge, foreign language to uproot and begin anew?
Marriage, adoption are the the big topics, but there are other aspects that exist or that are immediately getting worse.
LGBT rights have continued to be a flash point since the election. The Justice Ministry awarded funding to a project designed to counteract crimes “committed under the influence of LGBT ideology.”
Three activists protesting homophobia were detained this week and charged with the crimes of insulting monuments or offending religious feeling for hanging rainbow flags on statues in Warsaw, including one of Jesus. If convicted, they could face prison.
There is no law, however, making anti-LGBT hate speech a crime.- startribune.com
No statistics exist on how many LGBT people have left Poland, but the expectation of LGBT people leaving is definitely there.
Sources: startribune.com , Bloomberg.com