Out of the closet, onto the billboards for Poland's homosexuals, March 26, 2003

WARSAW, March 26 (AFP) - Poland's homosexuals have decided to come out of the closet, splashing their photographs on billboards in big towns in a first in their devoutly Catholic country. The photos are simple, and even banal. Two people of the same sex, smiling and holding hands, stamped with the words: "Look at us!" "I wanted us to be seen. So they can no longer stop us from kissing in the street, loving each other like everybody else," Ania, 21, who comes from the south-western town of Wroclaw said. Ania and her friend, Ewa, 26, decided to pose for one of the photos which sprang up on billboards in several towns across the central European country. The couple recently came to Warsaw for the launching of the campaign. "In Poland homosexuals have to be in hiding and we do not want to do it any more. Things have got to change," Ewa said. "The large majority of Polish homosexuals are afraid to manifest themselves, to come out of the closet," said Karolina Bregula, a photographer and initiator of the campaign. The dozens of posters which have sprouted up across the country have been put up deliberately high in order to deter vandals. Bregula admits she had difficulty finding couples prepared to pose. "For four months I was searching for couples who would be prepared to pose. I could only find 30," she said. "Even more scarce were the couples who authorised me to publish their names and addresses." In the end the photos were displayed without names. Tomek, a university teacher in Warsaw, said homosexuals faced a double discrimination. "Homosexuals in Poland go through two kinds of discrimination. Firstly, at the level of the state, which does not recognise couples of the same sex on the legal level. And secondly in everyday life," he said. "Homosexuals face discrimination at work, in the street or in their own families," said Tomik Tybora, a spokesman for the campaign. Homosexual organisations charge that cases of unfair dismissal on the grounds of homosexuality are common in Poland, as are verbal or physical attacks. "I had the idea for the campaign after a two-year stay in Sweden. There homosexual couples live freely, are part of society," Bregula said. "In Poland such a situation is unimaginable. People look at homosexuals as if they were from another world. I would like to change this state of affairs. I would like to show them in a normal situation, just like anyone else." Even before being stuck on billboards the posters caused howls of protest from politicians and political parties on the left and right. More than 90 percent of the population in Poland, the biggest country on course to join the EU on May 1, 2004 is Roman Catholic. The mayors of Warsaw and Krakow refused to have the posters displayed in their cities. "We want to open people's eyes. Show that homosexuals live just like they do, in their midst," Bregula said. "It is a first step. People have to get used to it." Tybora said that one problem encountered by homosexuals is that they are often mistaken for paedophiles. However, gay organisations say that little by little things are changing. The campaign is supported financially by the minister responsible for sexual equality, Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka. "Poland is considerably behind when it comes to the protection of human rights, especially of sexual minorities," she said, as she attended the launching of the campaign. She said Poland still had a long way to go. "Poles have still not seized on the opportunity to live in a pluralistic society," she said. "They are no less tolerant than others. Their real problem is that they have never really talked about these issues, and it really is time to start. Poland will soon join the European Union," she said.
Bernard Osser