Polish gay rights group hs out at new textbook | Rters

Contents:

• POLISH GAY RIGHTS GROUP HS OUT AT NEW TEXTBOOK
• NEW POLISH GAY THRILLER REFLECTS THE HISTORY OF AIDS UNR SOVIET LE
• POLISH GAY AND LBIAN MAGAZ
• GAY DICTNARY POLISH
• WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE

POLISH GAY RIGHTS GROUP HS OUT AT NEW TEXTBOOK

The stggle for gay rights is a foreign ncept imported om the US and Wtern Europe, he adds, and threatens the tradnal heterosexual Polish fay. Fd out moreWh state-sanctned homophobia and a largely hostile media, Polish gay people risk beg phed back to the closet, pecially small towns.

Image ptn, Bart Staszewski SwidnikWhen I arrive on a Saturday morng, half a dozen gay activists are the ma square handg out leaflets, "love is love" stickers and iced doughnuts wh multi-loured sprkl.

Their spokman, Bart Staszewski, has anised what he lled a queer tour of Poland's east to show people that gay people are "normal cizens" adds: "We are the rabow myth-bters. "Swidnik ee of rabow propaganda, " they yell, tryg to drown out the sound of the breezy pop mic g om the speakers of the gay rights activists.

NEW POLISH GAY THRILLER REFLECTS THE HISTORY OF AIDS UNR SOVIET LE

" He adds that many gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr Pol have recently emigrated to pe Tuchow, a town of 6, 500 people found medieval tim, which has also clared self ee of "LGBT iology", I meet a gay teenager a lol park. Still, that don't mean is easy to be gay this part of Poland, 100km east of ptn, Poland has been lled the worst untry the EU for LGBT rights"Once, when my boyiend and I were holdg hands", he says, "we heard a few people shoutg nam at . Durg his re-electn mpaign June, Print Duda signed a "Fay Charter, " cludg pledg to prevent gay upl om marryg or adoptg children and to ban teachg about LGBT issu schools.

Rather, 's that the polil parti, the European Unn - and the LGBT anisatns - they're all g Tuchow to pursue their own terts, " she Polish policians have stood up for gay rights. Some even held up pi of the nstutn to show that they believe the print has vlated the untry's legal a number of gay activists feel let down by liberal policians who have failed to take ncrete actns.

POLISH GAY AND LBIAN MAGAZ

""Basilly the msage they've been blastg through those loudspeakers is that gays rape children, " says Margot, who has jt been released om prison. "I jt read a post on Twter that one of the gay activists has said that the time for peaceful stggle is over", says Matsz Marzoch prottg outsi Warsaw's universy. ) - A gay rights group urged the Polish ernment on Wednday to whdraw a book thorized for e sendary schools that says portrays homosexualy as an illns that n be ‘Associatn for Diversy’ said the textbook, one of two thorized recently for e fay and sexual tn class, lims self to a narrow, tradnal view of homosexualy poed by Poland’s powerful Catholic tn mistry shgged off the plat, sayg textbooks were approved on the advice of experts and dividual teachers were ee to choose which on they ed.

“(The book) remas silent on the problems of homophobia and discrimatn and prents the theory that homosexualy is somethg one n reject and that one n return to ‘normaly’, ” ‘Diversy’ spokman Przemek Szczeplocki said. “This kd of attu epens the lack of acceptance for gays, lbians and bisexuals and perpetuat a belief that some sexual orientatns are weird, and this is hurtful, ” he said.

LIBERALPoland, which joed the European Unn 2004, remas one of the most voutly Catholic untri Europe, but surveys suggt Pol are beg more liberal on issu such as homosexualy and larger ci are home to creasgly open, self-nfint gay and lbian summer, Warsaw attracted gays and lbians om across Europe to attend Euro-Pri, an annual celebratn of gay and lbian culture, and avoid the kd of vlent clash wh police or far-right groups that have marred siar events Rsia and some other tn mistry spokman nfirmed that the ernment had thorized two new textbooks on sexual tn for e schools but said was not rponsible for the books’ ntents, provid they met urse requirements. “Teachers select the textbook they want to e and are also ee to ci how the lsons are prepared, ” said Grzegorz Zurawski, addg the gay rights group would be better served if addrsed s ncerns to teachers and the book’s publishers.

GAY DICTNARY POLISH

Unually, one of the more formidable works of recent tim the form of a new Polish gay thriller, ‘Operatn Hyacth’, released this week on Netflix. The film tak s name directly om a secret Polish police operatn rried out between 1985 and 1987, whereby police attempted to document gay men throughout the untry. The rultg dossier is believed to have bee a way for the munist police to blackmail and abe homosexual men wh the State, g many to leave the untry.

The gay thriller revolv around the fictnal character of Robert, played by Tomasz Zietek, a newly appoted police tective, tryg to make a name for himself. Followg the stabbg to ath of another gay man a lol park, Robert’s superrs beat a nfsn out of a third man, leadg Robert to qutn the validy of the vtigatn.

WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE

The sharp e of mirrors and reflectns act as strong metaphors for Robert’s latent homosexualy, whilst also ferrg the ever-prent trope of the ‘big brother’ spyg State.

SJ Sdu, thor of Marriage of a Thoand Li, lled , "One of the first Anglophone works to challenge the trope of the sad/suicidal gays who die at the end, this book gave a blueprt of what queer fictn uld look like.

Forster (A Passage to India, A Room Wh a View, Howards End) wrote the benchmark gay novel Mrice cir 1913, was published posthumoly a lh tale of manners, posn, and sire, the tular character meets and falls for his classmate Clive while at Oxford. The pair embark on a two-year affair until Clive leav Mrice to marry a woman and live out his proscribed life as part of the land gentry, leavg Mrice shambl and seekg to cure his Forster's novel do not end gay tragedy. Alan Hollghurst famoly qutned the future of the gay novel this year, which is strikg sce he's often viewed as helpg make queer books accsible to a mastream dience.