Poland’s LGBT Members are Emigrating as Post-Election Mood Grows Hostile

Activists say some departed after Law and Justice and Duda, who is backed by the party, came to power in 2015 and created an unfriendly climate for liberals and minorities.

As Duda faced a tough electoral challenge from Warsaw Mayor Rafa Trzaskowski, the rhetoric grew harsher.

He called the LGBT movement an “ideology” worse than communism and declared that LGBT was “not people.” He formally proposed the same-sex adoption ban.

After his victory, Duda apologized for language he acknowledged was sometimes too “harsh.”

A prominent LGBT activist, Bart Staszewki, nevertheless asked on Facebook if anyone was thinking of moving away from Poland.

He received hundreds of replies, mostly from people saying they were contemplating it or had already left.

Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and other European Union countries are where LGBT emigres are envisioning their future.

They follow generations of Poles who have fled political repression at home, including during the communist era.

The recent exodus represents “a second wave of immigration” after the significant number of Poles who moved abroad to work when Poland joined the EU in 2004, Staszewski said.

“This time, people are not looking for better paid jobs, but they are looking for dignity and respect,” he said.

“People want to feel that they are protected by the government and not treated as an enemy.”

Others are vowing to stay and fight for LGBT rights, among them Staszewski.

The 29-year-old said he is inspired by the example of his grandparents, who participated in the underground Polish resistance against the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

But escape is not a realistic option for everyone, particularly those from rural areas without money, foreign languages or other skills required to start over in a new culture.

Micha Niepielski, 57, a radio technician in Krakow who has taken a case to the European Court of Human Rights in hopes of winning the right to marry his partner of 16 years, says he knows some English and could move, but would not be able to work in his field abroad.