Posted on 01/17/2007 10:53:50 AM PST by lizol
Will Poland face its homophobic demons?
Stewart Who?, GAY.COM
Wednesday 17 January, 2007 13:39 | More from this date |
There are hopes for a monument in the centre of Poland’s capital city to commemorate the ‘Pink Triangle’ gays who were slaughtered in Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War.
More gays were excecuted in Nazi concentration camps in Poland than in any other country invaded by Hitler during the Second World War. Between 20,000 and 40,000 died in the horrific Auschwitz camp in south west Poland.
“We have to build this monument so that the people will not forget the thousands of gays who were murdered in the concentration camps of Poland,” said Lukasz Palucki, the founder of the Citizens’ Initiative to Commemorate Gays and Lesbians.
“World War II is evidence that intolerance, anti-Semitism and homophobia lead to concentration camps. History has proved that hated towards other groups leads to homicide.
“It’s time to commemorate all the homosexuals murdered in Nazi concentration camps,” Palucki continued, adding that a similar monument was unveiled last December in Berlin.
While Palucki’s requests are justified and timely, Berlin is a very different city to Warsaw. Arguably, Poland needs to face its homophobic demons with great urgency, unlike Germany, which is a gay paradise in comparison and a hot destination for queer tourists.
Recent events in Poland suggest that it will take more than symbolic architecture to change the coutry’s backward attitude to lesbians and gays.
The backers of the monument have announced that a contest for the design is to be held next week. They hope the monument will be in place in May so that the Warsaw Gay Pride march could pass and pay respects.
Not only does this seem like wishful thinking, but the idea isn't entirely supported by all the gay community in Poland.
“It is not a wise idea,” Robert Biedroñ, the head of Kampanii Przeciw Homofobii (Campaign against Homophobia) said.
“I think that such a monument can only make people turn away from the gay community. It will be taken as litigious,” he suggested.
His fears are understandable, as a large majority of the Polish population are resistant to gay rights, and their homophobia is fully supported by the authorities.
When the 60th anniversary of the Allied “liberation” of Auschwitz was commemorated, gays were the only group ignored during the official ceremony attended by many world leaders.
Last year, in reference to the 2006 gay pride march, Wojciech Wierzejski, a front-bench member of Parliament stated; “If the deviants will start demonstrating, they need to be bashed with a thick club.”
While “allowing” Warsaw gay march, city authorities also gave official approval to an anti-gay march staged by the League of Polish Families, and along the same route, as the Gay Pride March.
It appeared that the right-wing Warsaw city government set up a potentially violent confrontation by authorising the two marches in the same place at the same time.
Some might argue that a 20-story rainbow-coloured monument would still prove inadequate under the current circumstances. What Poland really needs is pressure from the EU to brush up its human rights…and a complete change of government.
What about Poland facing its bestiality demons too? LOL
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