
As an act of rebellion against the ANTI-LGBT+ politics of the country, this group of Feminist Activists in Warsaw decided to give some colour to a symbol of power to fight against homophobia.
A radical queer feminist group named Stop Bzdurom (Stop Bullshit) claimed responsibility for the protest against the homophobic situation of their country, hanging a Pride flag on a statue of Jesus and sharing a video on social media. They were very direct in their message, saying that homophobia is rampant and very dangerous in Poland, and they also promised to stand with the LGBT+ community that is “afraid to hold hands”.
Their promise is clear and solemn: “As long as the Pride flag makes someone worse and ‘inappropriate’, we solemnly promise to provoke. […] We are pissed off that our symbol – a symbol of exclusive love is perceived as something scandalous. These monuments are important for the city, but we are a part of it, and therefore they are also important for us. We feel that the rainbow in our country has become a burden that only bronze arms can bear.”
Poland Prime Minister ordered the prosecutor's office to deal with pride flags because of "profanation". Last time this happened, people with such accusations had apartments searched by police and confiscated computers. Support #stopbzdurom #lgbt #queer – https://t.co/HTm1xex8kE pic.twitter.com/fkjFkPabNR
— Stop Bzdurom (@stopbzdurom) July 30, 2020
The actual situation of the LGBT+ population in Poland is scary and they all live in hatful atmosphere, where no rights are granted to them and the spread of the “LGBT-free-zones” in the whole country, together with violent repressions of all LGBT+ activities, is experiencing a high peak that has never been touched before, in our modern times.
In the meantime, and as expected, Poland’s prime minister – Mateusz Morawiecki – accused the activists of crossing a line by adding a Pride flag to this statue of Jesus in the capital city.
In a post on Facebook he wrote: “The desecrated figure of Jesus from Krakow’s suburbs is not only a religious symbol, but a witness to the dramatic history of the capital. Such acts of vandalism we observed yesterday in Warsaw lead to nothing good, and have one purpose – to divide society even more. I won’t let that happen. Poland will never repeat the mistakes of the West”.
In response the group of queer activists, explained that their goal is “not to offend religion”, but to criticise “internal phobic attitudes”, adding that LGBT+ people can be Christians, as well as of any other religion and they all have the right to live freely.
“To see ‘profanation’ through the rainbow, you have to see evil in this rainbow rather than good, and you are all responsible for your prejudiced look.”
Police has already identified those involved in these three incidents, but no arrests have been made yet.
Poland’s president Andrzej Duda was recently re-elected off the back of an abhorrently homophobic set of pledges. He has vowed to ban same-sex marriage, gay adoption and LGBT-inclusive education in schools.
Rallying against the queer community while on the road, he said:”They are trying to convince us that they are people, but this is an ideology.”
Through their social profile on Facebook, the group of activists promises not to stop their fight for equal rights in Poland.