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DE RUEHWR #0805/01 2190647
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 070647Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8712
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 WARSAW 000805 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR DRL, EUR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PL
SUBJECT: GAY RIGHTS IN POLAND: LONG ROAD AHEAD 
 
REF: A. 07 KRAKOW 93 
     ¶B. WARSAW 626 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  The greater part of Polish society remains 
negatively disposed toward homosexuality.  Mainstream and extremist 
media, the educational system, and the Catholic Church all 
contribute in some form to homophobia in Polish society.  Gays and 
lesbians face discrimination in the educational system, in the 
workplace, when renting or buying property, and in access to health 
services.  Some have been subject to or threatened with physical 
violence on the basis of their sexual orientation.  Many feel that 
the GOP has not taken concrete action to protect gay and lesbian 
rights.  Indeed, some accuse the Government, police, and judiciary 
of indifference when it comes to claims of discrimination.  Although 
closer ties to Western Europe have caused a slow decline in 
homophobia in larger cities and among youth, many gay and lesbian 
Poles continue to conceal their sexual orientation.  END SUMMARY. 
 
The Political Aspect 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) While Poland's constitution guarantees "equal rights for 
all," gays and lesbians in Poland have in practice experienced 
difficulty asserting these rights.  Widespread homophobia 
contributes to discrimination in the workplace, schools and 
universities, hospitals and clinics, and the real estate market. 
The judiciary has until recently resisted recognizing discrimination 
claims filed under the 2003 EU Labor Code, which forbids 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Poland's governing center-right Civic Platform (PO) has 
demonstrated little interest in pursuing gay rights initiatives.  In 
January 2008 a spokesman for Prime Minister Tusk (PO) affirmed that 
the current parliament has no plans to undertake gay rights 
initiatives.  Poland's second-largest party, the opposition 
center-right, values-based Law and Justice (PiS), has actively 
opposed Equality Marches in Warsaw and Poznan and has historically 
supported measures to ban pro-gay events and demonstrations.  Most 
recently, a group of PiS politicians announced plans to submit 
legislation modeled on a Lithuanian law to protect children from 
"homosexual propaganda" in schools and in the media.  The Lithuanian 
law punishes positive depictions of homosexual relations with up to 
three years in prison. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Even among left-leaning parties, support for gay rights is 
minimal.  A survey of Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) members 
revealed that almost one-third consider homosexuality contrary to 
human nature.  Although the party stripped language calling for 
equal rights for gays and lesbians from its campaign platform in 
2007, it has more recently called for the appointment of an 
independent national ombudsman for equality, including on the basis 
of sexual orientation.  Political parties' disinterest in the issue 
is based in large part on the lack of public support for gay rights. 
 According to a 2006 EU survey only 17 percent of Poles favor gay 
marriage.  A mere seven percent support adoption of children by 
same-sex couples.  Among EU member states, Poland ranks close to the 
bottom in terms of support for gay rights. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Not surprisingly, prospects for legalization of same-sex 
marriage are remote at best.  Article 18 of Poland's constitution 
defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.  Despite EU 
pressure, successive Polish governments have also refused to 
recognize same-sex unions performed legally in other EU member 
states.  A 2003 proposal to legalize same-sex unions did not make it 
out of parliament. 
 
Sources of Anti-Gay Views 
------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The issue of gay rights has recently attracted significant 
media attention.  The wide-circulation Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza 
(center-left) devotes considerable space to the issue and publishes 
a wide variety of opinions on the matter.  Other media outlets are 
not as open.  Rzeczpospolita (a leading center-right daily) has been 
criticized by monitoring groups for taking homophobic positions. 
The most homophobic is arguably the radical newspaper Nasz Dziennik, 
whose stated goal is the propagation of Christian values and Polish 
culture.  Nasz Dziennik presents homosexuality as a deviant 
psychological condition (implicitly or explicitly linked with 
bestiality or child molestation) and frequently attacks supporters 
of homosexual rights.  (NB:  Nasz Dziennik's circulation is a 
fraction of that of Gazeta Wyborcza or Rzeczpospolita.  The paper is 
generally disregarded by mainstream Polish society.) 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Health textbooks used in Polish schools have also been 
criticized for espousing anti-gay views.  In general all textbooks 
follow the Polish constitution in privileging the status of the 
heterosexual family.  Some textbooks present homosexuality either as 
 
WARSAW 00000805  002 OF 003 
 
 
a psychological disorder or as a result of psychosexual immaturity. 
These representations of homosexuals contribute to a general opinion 
of homosexuals as abnormal. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The Catholic Church plays a significant role in the 
formation and propagation of anti-gay attitudes in Polish society, 
especially in rural areas.  In a society that is 94 percent 
Catholic, the Church is widely recognized as a political and moral 
force.  While the Polish Episcopate has condemned violence and 
discrimination against gays and lesbians, this message is often 
ignored - and sometimes contradicted - by parish priests in small 
towns and villages, some of whom present homosexuality as a deviant 
condition.  Moreover, the Church continues to label homosexual acts 
as sins and calls on homosexuals to practice abstinence.  Most 
Polish opponents of gay rights cite "Catholic values" and "natural 
law" to support their views.  In November 2008, for example, users 
of the internet forum "Fronda" launched a boycott campaign against 
IKEA in response to its gay-friendly advertising.  The campaign was 
named "I'm a Catholic and I don't shop in IKEA." 
 
Discrimination against Homosexuals 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Although Poland amended its labor code in 2003 to prohibit 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, Polish courts 
have only recently begun to hear cases of discrimination on that 
legal basis.  In August 2009 a Polish court in Szczecin decided the 
first such case, siding with a gay man against a female neighbor who 
referred to him as a "pansy" and outed him publicly, thereby 
exposing him to physical violence and intimidation.  Gay rights 
groups, including the Campaign against Homophobia (KPH), proclaimed 
the verdict as a major victory.  The independent Ombudsman for Civil 
Rights, Janusz Kochanowski, expressed concern about the ruling's 
implications for freedom of speech.  As with incidents of violence, 
many gays and lesbians fail to report discrimination either because 
they have no expectation that authorities will take appropriate 
action or out of fear of disclosing their sexual orientation. (Note: 
As reported in ref B, women's organizations have similarly accused 
Polish authorities of a lack of commitment to combating gender-based 
discrimination.) 
 
¶10. (SBU) Discrimination against gays and lesbians is reportedly 
commonplace in schools, the workplace, hospitals and clinics, and 
the real estate market.  A 2008 EU report noted that 80 percent of 
gay and lesbian students encountered either physical or 
psychological aggression in school.  Homosexuals are generally 
prevented from giving blood due to the perceived prevalence of HIV 
in the gay community.  In addition, gay and lesbians are not 
accorded full rights to visit hospitalized partners or to receive 
medical information about their partners. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Because same-sex unions are not legally recognized, gay 
and lesbian couples are not allowed access to some of the benefits 
that Polish married couples enjoy.  Among these are the right to 
inherit, the right to benefit from a partner's insurance, the 
possibility of adopting children, the privilege of collecting a 
partner's mail, and the right to refuse to testify against a partner 
in court.  (Note: Most of these benefits are not extended to 
unmarried opposite-sex couples, either.) 
 
Government Indifference 
----------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) A small number of skinhead groups and other marginal 
societal organizations, such as the Internet site Red Watch and the 
All-Polish Youth, use the Internet to disseminate anti-gay messages, 
including threats of violence against gays and lesbians.  According 
to KPH, 17 percent of homosexuals have experienced physical violence 
on the basis of their sexual orientation.  Other gay rights 
activists, however, have suggested that number may be inflated (ref 
A) and that Poland's integration into the EU has led to a decline in 
homophobia, primarily among youth and in larger cities. 
Participants in equality parades and other pro-gay events encounter 
physical intimidation, as well.  For instance, in November 2008 
participants in an equality march in Poznan were physically attacked 
by gay rights opponents.  Gay rights organizations including KPH 
have accused the police of failing to protect homosexuals. 
According to a 2007 KPH report, 85 percent of violence against 
homosexuals goes unreported, largely because victims feel the police 
are either ineffective or share the homophobic attitudes of Polish 
society. 
 
Mission Advocacy 
---------------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) U.S. Mission Poland continues to use its speakers 
programs and other programming opportunities to combat xenophobia 
writ large and to promote tolerance.  We cooperate closely with 
Polish NGOs, including KPH, that work toward similar ends.  Embassy 
Warsaw has sponsored screenings and follow-on discussions of "Milk" 
 
WARSAW 00000805  003 OF 003 
 
 
- about the life of American gay rights activist Harvey Milk - and 
"Before Stonewall" - about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots.  Both 
events were standing-room only.  Mission Poland has also engaged the 
Polish MFA on the issue of diplomatic visas and work permits for 
same-sex partners, or "Members of Household," of Mission personnel. 
To date, the MFA has been reluctant to accommodate these requests. 
With the advent of the Department's same-sex domestic partners 
policies, the Mission will be inquiring about a diplomatic visa for 
a same-sex domestic partner on newly amended travel orders. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Polish society and the Polish Government have a long way 
to go toward ending discrimination on the basis of sexual 
orientation.  While full equal rights for Poland's homosexual 
minority may be decades away, the situation is gradually improving. 
The 2003 EU Labor Code provides a legal basis for discrimination 
claims to be filed and courts are slowly beginning to respond.  The 
European Commission is actively monitoring the situation of gays and 
lesbians in Poland.  As Poles' social and economic ties to Western 
Europe deepen, we expect homophobia will continue to decline, as 
well. 
 
ASHE