Polish president Lech Kaczynski, a staunch Roman Catholic, said his views on issues like traditional national values and gay people are misunderstood. Kaczynski, of the socially conservative Law and Justice Party, took office in December on pledges that included making sure that Poland's traditional Roman Catholic values were not overwhelmed by the general European liberal viewpoint. Poland, a former Soviet bloc country, joined the European Union in 2004.

"I am aware that often the things I say are not in line with the European correctness," Kaczynski said in an interview Monday with the Associated Press in New York. "Even more, I am ascribed views that are not really mine."

...

He has also been criticized for speaking against same-sex marriage. He says property and inheritance issues for gay couples can be settled by lawyers.

Talking to the AP, he defended his views. "I do not support the turning back of the wheel of history," Kaczynski said, noting he is for equal rights for women and is "not an enemy" of gay people. "I only think that we cannot say that there are two equal cultures," he said. "If we said so, that would mean we are saying that our fate is extinction."

"I have a certain fear here, but that does not mean that I intend to persecute anyone, that I intend to prevent him from living, from making a career, from working, from being a soldier."

Whilst on a visit to Britain, The President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński has spoken out against "gay culture," warning that it may cause the death of heterosexuality within Europe.

...

Quizzed on his stance on gay rights by Kirsty Wark, Mr Kaczyński said: "I haven't changed my position at all." Adding: "There always have been and always will be homosexuals in Poland, they forge careers for themselves they are active in society."

Controversially, he went on to say: "That's one thing, but as for what's called 'gay culture', it can never be seen as an alternative to heterosexual culture.

"If a 'gay culture' were to be an accepted alternative it could mean that especially here in europe, our heterosexual culture would disappear."

WARSAW, November 16, 2006 – Polish President Lech Kaczynski’s comments to the BBC’s Newsnight programme while visiting London that gay culture could make “heterosexual culture disappear” is dangerous, paranoic homophobia, says the ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network).

“Have Sappho’s poetry, Oscar Wilde’s plays, Tchaikovski’s music, Nijinski’s dancing, Michelangelo’s sculptures or Caravaggio’s painting devoured the world’s culture – or enriched it," asks Bill Schiller, secretary general of the ILGCN Information Secretariat in Stockholm, and Łukasz Pałucki, ILGCN cultural ambassador of Poland, in a joint statement.

“This verbal attack on gay culture is just as ridiculous as saying that the blues and spirituals of black America, or that the gypsy flamenco or the chanting of the reindeer-raising Sami of the north are ferociously storming the white man’s cultural barricades,” says the ILGCN.

Remarks about homosexuality during a state visit to Ireland have caused more trouble for the controversial President of Poland.

Speaking to an audience at Dublin Castle on the final day of his three day visit, Lech Kaczynski said that the promotion of homosexuality would lead to the eventual destruction of the human race.

...

"If that kind of approach to sexual life were to be promoted on a grand scale, the human race would disappear.

"Imagine what grand changes would occur in mores if the traditional links between men and women were set aside."

...

At Dublin Castle yesterday, President Kaczynski claimed that he is not a homophobe.

"Among my personal friends there are individuals affected by this different sexual orientation, or homosexuality, but they enjoy full rights, they are able to move forward in various spheres of life," he said, according to the Independent.

"This is a tendency, an orientation that has always existed, I don't know why.

"I do not intend to combat it, to force them into therapy. But at the same time, I don't think it's appropriate that they should promote their sexual orientation."

PROLIFERATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY IS GOOD AS WELL!

Warsaw- Roman Giertych, Poland's controversial Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, is preparing legislation to sanction school principals who allow members of gay rights organisations to speak with pupils, a Polish education ministry spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Giertych recently stirred controversy in Heidelberg, Germany, during a meeting of EU education ministers when he openly criticized abortion rights and what he termed "homosexual propaganda".

The government of conservative Law and Justice (PIS) Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has distanced itself from the Giertych's comments, insisting they were his personal opinions and did not reflect government policy.

... The European Parliament's committee on civil liberties discussed the Polish ideas on Tuesday (20 March) and decided to launch a study into the compatibility of such legislation with EU rules, if the bill is ever officially submitted to the Polish lower house.

[...]

The committee would like the EU parliament's legal services to probe any Polish bill on two grounds, firstly to see if it is compatible with European anti-discrimination norms and secondly to see if it violates European norms on freedom of expression. [Dutch green MEP Kathalijne] Buitenweg and other MEPs are also preparing oral questions to the European Commission and the German EU presidency for the 10-11 April plenary session in Strasbourg.

[...]

Ms Buitenweg -- herself an antithesis to the current Polish government -- went on to say that "there is a dark undercurrent in Polish politics and society at present, which seeks to promote discrimination of minorities and the disregard of civil rights" touching upon wider concerns over Poland's political drift.

[...]

Last month, the League of Polish Families also gave voice to anti-Semitic tendencies in its ranks, with party member and MEP Maciej Giertych -- who also happens to be [Education Minister] Roman Giertych's father -- publishing a booklet saying Jews are biologically different from gentiles and create their own ghettos. Neither his son nor the Polish government made any effort to distance themselves from his views, despite an outcry in Brussels.

The Polish education minister also has wildly unrealistic views on abortion, proposing in recent weeks that Poland should push for abortion to be made illegal across the EU in a statement that went too far even for prime minister Kaczynski, who made him publicly retract his words.

Abortion is illegal in Poland except on medical grounds, but even this is hard to secure: the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg awarded €25,000 damages on Tuesday to Polish woman Alicja Tysiac, who was declined a legal abortion even though the birth made her all-but-lose her eyesight.

Meanwhile, Poland will be invaded by a host of U.S. Christian Right activists when a World Congress of Families (WCF) is held in Warsaw on May 11-13, and President Kaczynski -- who twice banned Gay Pride marches when he was mayor of Warsaw -- is both Honorary Patron of this so-called Congress and, it was announced last week, will give the opening speech there.

Things in Poland are getting nastier, if you can believe it. You may recall Lurch-like Education Minister Roman Giertych proposed banning gay teachers and, in fact, any gay discussion from the nation's schools - a move that's irked the European Parliament. Well, now, a representative from the "children's rights" ministry has suggested compiling an entire list of gay-verboten professions.

Writing in Poland's Dziennik, Ewa Sowińska insists, We must prepare a list of jobs, where homosexual people will be banned". This move, of course, would stop the sissie scourge, thus giving Poland a step up in the contest for worst human rights violator in history.

Former Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski says he is returning to politics to fight the far right agenda of the government that includes a bill to ban all discussion of homosexuality in schools. "Today. you can see the take-over of the state by the governing party, the party taking control of areas which should be part of a democratic state or civil society -- you can see it everywhere," Kwasniewski told Poland's news agency.

"I'm referring to the foreign ministry, the administration of justice, the prosecutor's office, police, public media. This is why I'm returning. The situation is becoming so difficult that all hands must be on deck," Kwasniewski said.

The former president is an ex-communist turned left-wing moderate social democrat. Considered one of the country's most respected politicians, Kwasniewski left the presidency in late 2005 after serving two consecutive terms in office.

He particularly singled out the ruling League of Polish Families' Deputy Prime Minister Roman Giertych who proposed the anti-gay bill to fight "homosexual propaganda".

The bill has been fast tracked by the Polish government and is about to be introduced in Parliament with expectations it will quickly pass.

Labour MEP Michael Cashman has strongly condemned the actions of Conservative MEPs who sided with extreme-right political groups in an attempt to suppress a debate on homophobia.

On Wednesday the European Parliament voted to send a fact-finding mission to Poland to investigate a new law that seek to suppress discussion of gay issues in schools.

The extreme-right Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN) Group attempted to suppress the debate by tabling a procedural motion, which Conservative MEPs chose to support.

Konrad Szymanski, who leads the Polish Justice and Law party in the parliament, said the debate should be abandoned as it was attempting to discuss legislation that was not on the Polish government's official agenda.

[...]

Mr Cashman represents the West Midlands and is one of only two out gay MEPs. He told PinkNews.co.uk:

"This is just another example of the Conservatives saying one thing, and then doing something completely different.

"Despite David Cameron¹s rhetoric it is clear that the Tories have not changed from the days when they were introducing discriminatory legislation in this country such as Clause 28. I was appalled to see (Tory MEP) Philip Bradbourn vote with the far-right UEN Group on Wednesday and I would like to know how he can justify his actions.

"Having tried to suppress the debate yesterday, the Conservative whip instructed Tory MEPs to register an abstention on the issue."

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski in 2005 acted illegally and discriminatory in banning a gay pride march in the Polish capital.

Polish gay and lesbian organizations filed a lawsuit against Kaczynski, who is now Poland's President, after he banned the 2005 parade.

[...]

In its ruling the European Court cited three articles of the European Convention on Human Rights that Kaczynski had violated -- the right to freedom of association and assembly, the right to live free of discrimination and the right to an effective remedy. 

This is the fist case of a banned LGBT Pride march being challenged in the court.

"We are pleased that the Court firmly and unanimously confirmed that the freedom of assembly and expression belongs to all, said Patricia Prendiville, Executive Director of the International Lesbian and Gay Association - Europe. "There is a significant case-law already established by the Court in regards to freedom of assembly and now we know that the same principles are equally applicable to LGBT citizens."

Several other cases of banned pride marches also have been filed with the court, including one against the mayor of Moscow.

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.

Polish gay rights groups say thousands of homosexuals have fled the country to the UK to escape increasing persecution.

Robert Biedron, a left wing party activist and head of the Polish Foundation Against Homophobia, said "huge numbers" of Polish gays had now fled the country following the rise to power of the current right-wing conservative government. He said: "It is incredible. The Polish gay community has just moved away because of the climate of fear and persecution.

"Most of the people I know are now in England because of the current political situation. Not for economic reasons, but because of the persecution of homosexuals going on here.

"It’s impossible for gays to be themselves in Poland. Around two million Poles have left the country seeking work and thousands of gays are joining them.

The police have also been compiling a database on gays and the gay community in Poland which although illegal under EU law, is apparently being done as part of a police investigation into a bomb threat two years ago by a gay man.

He had reportedly identified himself as a member of the gay community angry when a gay rights march was banned in Warsaw.

"The Police are not allowed to catalogue ‘homosexual data’ but it’s enough to look into the police investigation associated with the bomb in order to establish a list of names and addresses," said Ewa Kulesza, a former personal data protection general inspector.

it is claimed they went in large numbers to the UK, after all

But the list does not just target Poland’s conservative, rightwing politicians – many on the roll, drawn up by gaylife.pl, are from the left of the political spectrum. A human rights organization has criticized such a list.

“There’s a parliamentary election coming. We want to enable the gay community to make a conscious choice and this is the reason for creating a list with the names of the people who have hindered us from achieving our goals”, said Marek Ryszard, of the gay portal and initiator of the idea.

A Mr. Rzepliński, of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, does not in the least bit approve. He seems to think there must be evidence of homophobic behavior before a politician is listed. Some of the politicians on the list are allegedly named solely because they have refused to raise the issue of equal marriage rights in policy statements.

It's an election, not a trial (not that a trial for crimes against humanity is not called for here). Silence on the issue of marriage equality (or any other), by the way, is criminal and worthy of trial. It's also more than ample reason to not vote for them. Why should Gays vote for a homophobe?

Polish police say they are dropping the hunt for whoever was behind a series of bombs which later turned out to be fakes that were discovered in four cities in the days leading up to the 2005 presidential election.

The devices were discovered after anonymous phone calls to police from someone claiming to be from an organization called the Gay Power Brigade.

Thirteen devices were found in Warsaw. Police said that the "bombs" were sophisticated and it took bomb squad experts some time to realize they were not dealing with real explosives.

Similar dummy bombs also were discovered in train stations in Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot.

The discoveries caused panic in the streets of all four cities.

In a lengthy manifesto sent to Warsaw newspapers and wire services the Gay Power Brigade condemned Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski, who was running for president.

[...]

The bomb scare was in part credited with Kaczynski's election.

But as police began to investigate they discovered there was no such organization as the Gay Power Brigade, and liberals and members of Poland's LGBT community suggested the whole bomb scare was a plat by Kaczynski's Law and Justice party to gain power.