The Polish Ministry of National Education (MEN) has new ideas aimed at protecting students against the so called “propaganda of homosexuality”. They include the concept of dismissing homosexually-oriented teachers. Polish organizations involved in protecting the rights of homosexuals are lodging protests and Human Rights Watch is writing a letter to the Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, right, concerning the violation of the rights and liberties of individuals belonging to sexual minorities. (23-MAR-07)


Written by Marta Lempicka/HRH Warsaw
Sources: www.gazeta.pl, Polska Agencja Prasowa, www.hrw.org, http://warszawa.lambda.org.pl/


The legislative concepts of the Ministry of National Education
On 13 March, the Ministry of National Education held a press conference on the draft “act prohibiting the propagation of deviant behavior at schools”. On the Ministry’s website we read that: “The proposed act will state inter alia that “a person who propagates homosexuality or other sexual perversions at educational facilities shall be subject to the penalty of restriction of liberty or a fine”. The same punishment shall be imposed on a person who “propagates homosexuality in a manner which suggests that this is linked with the activity of the educational facility, which is also inconsistent with the Constitution”. According to the proposed act, educational facilities include schools as well as youth recreation centers. On the morning of 15 March, the media presented reports about the statement of the Deputy Minister of Education Miroslaw Orzechowski that homosexual teachers should be laid off. On the afternoon of the very same day, the Deputy Minister began to retract this statement by saying that he meant the teachers who propagate homosexuality/a homosexual lifestyle. On the morning of 16 March, during the radio program “Morning with Radio Tok FM” (“Poranek Radia Tok FM”), he retracted the previous day’s statements even further, apologized to individuals who might have been offended and stated that homosexual individuals are allowed to teach at schools. Let us remind you that on 1 March, during a meeting of European ministers of education in Heidelberg, the Polish Minister of Education Roman Giertych spoke of homosexual propaganda at schools and the fact that it should be suppressed. 


Protests expressed by gay organizations
The concepts presented by the Polish Minister of National Education met with protests from two Polish organizations dealing with the situation surrounding homosexuals in Poland: Lambda Warsaw and Campaign against Homophobia. They published a joint protest letter, in which they firmly oppose the plans of the Minister of National Education aimed at introducing a statutory ban on “homosexual propaganda” at schools and express their indignation regarding the declaration to dismiss homosexual teachers. In their opinion, “homosexual propaganda” is a term just as absurd as “heterosexual propaganda”. In her statements for the television stations TVN and Polsat, Agnieszka Mikulska also expressed a protest regarding this matter on behalf of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. On 19 March, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Prime Minister Jaros³aw Kaczyñski, in which it expresses its concern about the latest draft act prepared by the MEN and the recent climate of intolerance towards gays and lesbians in Poland. As the Polish Press Agency has announced, the Polish Prime Minister considers homosexuality as an “ailment” that should be tolerated and in his opinion homosexuals who propagate homosexuality should not be teachers.