As of: February 14, 2024, 4:21 p.m
By: Sandra Kathe
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Press
Split
During the reign of the right-wing nationalist PiS, hatred of queer people was stirred up in Poland's media.
That should change now.
Warsaw - On Polish television, presenter Wojciech Szeląg sent an important signal a few months after the start of liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk's term in office by apologizing for the media's treatment of LGBTQ people.
Szeląg received praise from many quarters for his performance, but many of those affected emphasize that there is still a long way to go for the country.
In his talk show, Szeląg hosted filmmaker Bart Staszewski and the transgender activist, two well-known faces from the Polish LGBTQ community, which not only had little visibility on Polish television over the past few years, but had also been repeatedly portrayed as a “threat”. .
Speaking to the British
Guardian
, Staszewski called the gesture a “touching moment.”
Apologies to LGBTQ people: this is about people, not ideology
After introducing his guests, Szeląg emphasized that there was time for a few words before the conversation and then turned directly to the camera.
Addressing the audience, he then said that LGBTQ people in Poland have been hearing “shameful things” for years “simply because they have decided for themselves who they are and who they love.”
An apology is now due for this.
Queer people have also taken to the streets at Pride events in Poland in recent years.
But hatred and prejudice were noticeable.
(Archive photo) © Wojtek Radwanski/AFP
In fact, these people are not an “ideology,” Szeląg further emphasized, but “people, certain names, faces, relatives and friends.” They should all now hear the word apology somewhere.
Media reform in Poland: restructuring of public media after accusations of one-sidedness
The gesture by the TV presenter, who according to the
Guardian
has been with the public broadcaster since January, is another indicator that something is changing in Poland since the right-wing national PiS party under Tusk's predecessor Mateusz Morawiecki had to give up power.
In the election at the end of 2023, the PiS still emerged as the strongest force, but had to admit defeat to the stronger coalition of Tusk's Civic Platform with the party groups Trzecia Droga and Lewica.
Just a few weeks after the election, Tusk's government announced that it would reorganize the country's public media, which it had previously accused of party propaganda for Morawiecki's PiS government.
Structures were then changed and important positions were filled at both the national television station TVP, the Polish radio and the PAP news agency.
International organizations that had previously criticized the one-sided reporting by public media in Poland welcomed the move.
PiS supporters took to the streets against the decision.
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LGBTQ in Poland: Activist sees possible turning point
Staszewski also confirmed to the
Guardian
that over the last eight years, not only activists of the LGBTQ movement, but also the entire LGBTQ community "have been portrayed as a danger to the Polish nation" in order to incite hatred among viewers fulfill.
“After eight years of invisibility, years of feeling like a second-class citizen,” for Staszewski the gesture was a sign “that a chapter is ending in some way.”
Nevertheless, one cannot simply go back to “day-to-day business” in Poland, demanded the LGBTQ activist, who years ago opposed Polish cities and municipalities that had previously declared that they wanted to free themselves from “LGBTQ ideology”.
The people who fueled prejudice against LGBTQ people in Poland, hatred and violence must also be held accountable, he demanded.
Staszewski is now also hoping for an apology from Dunald Tusk himself, he told the
Guardian
: “If we heard it, we would know that it would really be a new beginning among leaders who understand how important our cause is.” (saka)