As you probably heard already, as it was making headlines everywhere from Canada to Australia, Poland is experiencing an extreme homophobic shitshow provided to us by president Duda and his party colleagues. Apparently, panicked with the growing popularity of Rafał Trzaskowski, Duda’s main opponent in oncoming presidential elections, PiS decided that they need a new enemy to integrate their followers against. The topic of LGBT has not been used for some time, so here we go.
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It has all begun with Joachim Brudziński’s tweet, in which he said that “Poland without LGBT is most beautiful”:
„Wielkie” ideologiczne spory, emocje😂 a tymczasem na #PomorzeZachodnie❤️, ptasia rodzina, mama i tata, w naszej kapliczce, realizuje Boży plan👍 Polska bez LGBT jest najpiekniejsza 🙂 pic.twitter.com/HshjssTwB5
— Joachim Brudziński (@jbrudzinski) June 11, 2020
Jacek Żalek, MP from one of the PiS satellite parties was asked about it by a journalist in TVN. He asked her what “LGBT means”. She began explaining, that LGBT means all non-heterosexual people, to which he laughed in her face, saying “No, those are not people. It’s an ideology”. Journalist, already outraged by his boorishness and failure to answer previous questions, kicked him out of her show. His party colleagues already suggest that this mean that TVN should not have their broadcasting licence renewed for such “anti-Polish” behaviours.
The following day president Duda mentioned this to his followers during one of his campaign rallies. “They kicked out an MP, who said that LGBT is an ideology. He simply called it ideology. They try to tell us they are people, but it’s simply an ideology” – thundered the president.
As if there were any doubts about PiS stance towards minorities, another PiS MP and a member of Duda’s electoral committee Przemysław Czarnek made it very clear in one of the programs in TVP:
“Let’s defend families from this kind of filthiness and deprivation, such absolute immoral behaviour, let’s defend ourself from LGBT ideology and let’s stop listening to those idiocies about some “human rights”, some “equality” – those people aren’t equal to normal people, so let’s finish that discussion for good”.
Ok, więc posłuchajmy tej wypowiedzi bez manipulacji i w pełnym kontekście: pic.twitter.com/9HNetnfMZP
— Andrzej (@Andrzej_Miland) June 14, 2020
And then another PiS MP was saying something about drowning homosexuals in the swamps, which “weren’t a punishment, but simply the extinguishment of abnormal life. It had to be got rid of, just as we pull out weeds, throw them on a heap and burn them”. Ah, no, wait, that was Reichsfurher-SS Heinrich Himmler… Sorry for that mistake, it’s so easy to get confused nowadays.
There is a certain irony that PiS spouting this homophobic completely ignores Robert Biedroń, openly gay candidate. It is instead aimed at Rafał Trzaskowski, Duda’s main opponent in the race, because he supports LGBT cause and as a mayor of Warsaw signed “LGBT card”, promising proper sex education in the city’s schools, which PiS considers to be an outrageous attack on families because for them sex education equals “promoting LGBT ideology”. But the urgent need of proper sex education has been proved by no one else, that one of the PiS activist, who, commenting on TVP censoring a Durex commercial that includes a gay couple, asked: “What gay people need condoms for?”
But of course, according to PiS Poles don’t need sex ed, they need religion. Especially their version of religion. After one of the bishops thanked the Holy Mary for the service of “two representatives of the government, elected by a majority of Poles, who represent the charism of 2 evangelists, writing with words and actions the gospel of Christ. Evangelist Matthew (Morawiecki) – leans over our nation’s existence, so we have a better life. Evangelist Lucas (Szumowski) impersonates prolongation of the actions of Christ, protecting our lives and health”.
Seriously:
“Ewangelista Mateusz premier Morawiecki i ewangelista Łukasz profesor Szumowski” – z transmisji apelu jasnogórskiego z kaplicy z obrazem Matki Bożej. pic.twitter.com/oG2kv1KV5o
— Dominik Cwikła (@Dominik_Cwikla) June 12, 2020
One of the faithful already tried to kiss Mateusz Morawiecki’s hand:
Jedynie co się socjalistom przez te 103 lata udało, to genialna propaganda. Morawiecki rozdaje w 500+ część pieniędzy, które zabrał w podatkach temu człowiekowi, a ten go całuje w rękę jak dobroczyńcę.
Naprawdę socjaluchy, z przedmiotu propaganda – celujący. pic.twitter.com/q1b059uRkq
— Anarchokapitalizm (@Ankapitalizm) June 14, 2020
And how is evangelist Łukasz Szumowski doing? Hard to say. His businesses become shadier and shadier after it had emerged that 1200 of respiratory machines purchased by him from former arms dealer at mere 200 000 might not even exist, as manufacturers of that devices deny that they ever sold any to him, or even had an order for such big numbers (all devices are made on-demand). Jerzy Owsiak, chief of Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy, one of the biggest Polish charities that supply medical equipment to Polish hospitals for nearly 30 years was shocked. He wrote on his Facebook that not only respiratory machines WOŚP bought were much cheaper than those “purchased” by the ministry, but also that none of the manufacturers was able to take orders for more than a 100 during peak times of pandemics. But thanks to the new law introduced by PiS that allows for breaking the law during pandemics, Szumowski probably won’t answer for that scandal.
Unlike people who criticize him: a couple of activists, suspected of opening bust stop poster displays and illegally place posters criticizing Łukasz Szumowski have been persecuted by the police. As one of them told Oko.press, she had police rummaging her flat and was arrested and handcuffed in an uncomfortable way. She was not allowed to take her toothbrush with her, or even to put her socks on. After that, she was stripped naked and searched, and then she was kept at the police station for 41 hours, not allowed contact with her family or lawyer only to be released after some minor formalities.
This is an obvious case of political persecution, as even if the charge of stealing posters worth 430 zł was true (and they weren’t the original posters were left in place), no petty thief is treated by the police that badly. And people who syphon taxpayer’s money to their families and friends – like minister Szumowski – aren’t bothered by the police at all.
I guess it is all about who knows whom. And Minister Szumowski decided to make it official. After long years of fighting nepotism in the medicine industry (where there where whole families of doctors and virtually inheritable positions), he decided that doctors seeking specialisation or residency will be able to gain extra points by obtaining a recommendation letter. It is obvious that such letter would be much easier to obtain by those, who’s families are well connected in the medicinal world…
But it is not all bad in health services. Many nurses boasted on social media about the special bonus they received for working during COVID-19 pandemics. The sums vary – some received 4zł 23gr, some 4zł 24gr and some as much as 4zł 25gr! This is apparently a “motivational bonus” for 252 hours of work in difficult condition. As if that was not enough, some medical professionals are further motivated by members of the public. A paramedic who left her jacket in her car received a letter saying “get the fuck off from our neighbourhood – you only spread the disease. Next time we burn the car and your flat – you have to move out of our block”. Those kind words were accompanied by the brick placed on her windscreen.
And to think that we were so close to becoming a normal country: recently the Polish army has invaded the Czech Republic: the soldiers placed border control post on the Czech side of the bridge and denied locals access to a small chapel nearby. If we only officially declared war and then officially surrendered, we could enjoy being occupied by our more reasonable neighbours!
This piece was written for Britské Listy
Picture: TheDigitalArtist (Public Domain)
