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GAZETA WYBORCZA

Polish Schools Celebrate LGBT Students Despite Backlash

In Warsaw, Poland
In Warsaw, Poland
Pawel Kosminski

WARSAW — Schools in Poland celebrated "Rainbow Friday" for the first time so that students, regardless of their sexual orientation, feel accepted and respected. But in the conservative Catholic country, leaders of the governing Law and Justice party are protesting against the celebration, and are urging parents to sign declarations against it.

Campaign Against Homophobia, an advocacy group, had invited teachers to participate in "Rainbow Friday" after many school officials inquired how they could counter discrimination in classrooms and support LGBT students.

School officials said that violence, including verbal abuse, has had tragic consequences as seen in the case of 14-year-old Dominik who hanged himself after he was called a derogatory term for gay.

Although many lawmakers are opposed to the celebration, 75 schools from around the country are participating. The Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture, an independent organization, is planning to sue these schools.

The right-wing and Catholic media are saying that ""in the name of public tolerance, kids are being subjected to homosexual propaganda."

The Ordo Iuris Institute, which is also in favor of a blanket ban on abortion, has prepared a declaration for parents who do not want their children to take part in any festivities in school that concern sexual identity.

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Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

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