Another Fordham student and I met up with the activist and his friends, who took us for a brief walking tour of some of the relevant LGBTQ spots around the city, mostly friendly bars and areas around where the recent Kraków Pride March took place. Right before we landed in Kraków, a Pride March took place, which we learned was completely peaceful; there were no reported attacks during the event, although there was plenty of opposition and protesting by anti-LGBTQ extremists. It was nice to hear that such an event is planned annually, particularly because of the information I was learning regarding the climate in Kraków for LGBTQ people.
I would have assumed that the “cultural capital of Poland” would have been the safest place for LGBTQ Polish people. That is absolutely not the case. The activist was open about having been attacked multiple times for peacefully walking down the street hand-in-hand with his boyfriend, and for having a simple, private conversation regarding gay life in Poland with a friend, overheard by an attacker. This was alarming, and quite frankly, scary information to hear. What was even scarier, was hearing that these blatant hate crimes are not against Polish law. The only law protecting LGBTQ Polish people is that they cannot be fired for being LGBTQ. Anything else goes. This means that anyone can attack LGBTQ people in Poland for their born identity.
Walking the streets of New York, it is pretty easy to see people expressing themselves in terms of their outer appearance, how they walk, and interact with others. In Kraków, however, there was much more uniformity. Most people on the street appear to be straight and white. There is little expression beyond what might be constituted as mainstream and “acceptable.” Gay and lesbian bars as we know them in New York are extremely rare in Kraków. Rather, discreet cruise bars with “dark rooms” are popular among the LGBTQ community, particularly the closeted LGBTQ community. People go there to fulfill basic human needs they have that are unable to be fulfilled by living their lives in public.
Life in Warsaw for LGBTQ people is admittedly different. I was not able to travel to Warsaw to learn how it differs, though the activist and his friends told me that Warsaw’s Pride March is much bigger and more celebratory. This was reassuring to hear, and gave me hope that this could spread to Kraków and the rest of Poland.
The closed-minded stance Poland seems to be taking on LGBTQ issues, among other issues, is due largely to the country’s strong identification with the Catholic religion. Although this is unfortunately logical, the basis of any and all religion is to treat others with kindness and love. I was taken aback when our class visited self-proclaimed Catholic magazine Tygodnik Powszechny and we learned that the magazine has printed information regarding the LGBTQ equality movement as well as the women’s equality movement. Both issues are controversial in Poland, and may be seen as controversial for a Catholic magazine to print. Although I can’t confirm completely, as its articles are in Polish, it seemed that the magazine prints articles about these issues which are more or less objective. The magazine did take somewhat of a stance on the issue, printing an image of a hand with a rainbow bracelet shaking a hand with a religious cross/rosary bracelet in harmony (see the magazine's controversial image below). Despite that, Catholic extremists took issue with the publication for even entertaining the idea of presenting these topics. Coming from a Jesuit University in New York, this is insane to me. One must educate oneself on the issues before making an opinion on them, and remember passages such as Mark 12:31, “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
All of this information was difficult to process, though there is definitely a silver lining to the above. There are multiple communities seeking equality in Poland. For example, there is a strong women’s equality movement, particularly concerning issues such as contraception, sex education, and abortion. Currently, there is little to no sex education, contraception is practically nonexistent, and abortions are outlawed (even in rape cases). The women’s equality movement seeks to fix these issues. Because these movements share a fight for equality, their communities support each other, showing up for each others’ events and rallying for each other. This creates a strong community which I found uplifting.
One of my final questions to this activist and his friends, was why are they staying in Kraków, a place which is clearly dangerous for the LGBTQ community, when they could so easily move anywhere else in the EU that might be a safer place to live. Their response was simple, that Kraków needs them to stand up for LGBTQ rights. If they were to leave, they’d be letting down their country, their community, and their friends. I was so completely humbled and inspired by that response.Connecting all of this information back to my existence back in New York City, I have never been so proud and grateful for what I have in my home city. Sure we still have homophobia, transphobia, racism, etc., but life in New York is far better for minorities than in Kraków. As a descendant of Polish people myself, I am grateful to my great grandparents for moving to New York in search of a better life for themselves and their descendants, me. I live in a community which is so much more accepting and open minded than life in Poland, for which I am extremely grateful. I appreciate the opportunity that the Poland Study Tour provided to learn how my brothers and sisters in Poland are treated, and it’s helped me gain a deeper appreciation for what I have.
I am proud to have established Fordham Gabelli School of Business’s LGBTQ club, Gabelli Pride. It is important to celebrate your identity, no matter what it is, and never stop fighting for equal treatment.
Video of recent Kraków Pride March:
https://www.facebook.com/queerowymaj/videos/vb.192608494083516/1558909327453419/?type=2&theater
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