Parts of its particularly conservative, rural regions to the southeast have never embraced LGBT people but now, homophobic rhetoric is uttered by the state and preached in churches, and hostility on the streets is boiling over.ĭuring a reelection campaign partially dominated by the issue earlier this year, incumbent President Andrzej Duda - a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump - warned of an LGBT “ideology” more dangerous to Poland than communism. Poland is staunchly Catholic, and nearly half of Poles attend church weekly. Around nine in 10 Poles identify as Roman Catholics, and about 40% attend Sunday mass weekly.Ī family arrives to Sunday mass at a Catholic church in Istebna. Poland is a country still steeped in Catholic custom and fiercely, reflexively defensive of its national tradition. “Of course not!” Duzniak says with a dismissive laugh, as if the concept were so outlandish as to not warrant a thought. While they briefly hug when they meet each other, they would never - ever - hold hands. Instead, the affection between the two is noticeable only in their glances, half-smiles and the engagement that they keep well-hidden when walking through Kozy. They say that, sometimes.” Things are easier in Bielsko-Biala, where Głowacka lives, and where anti-LGBT intolerance has not been adopted in law. “People would talk behind our back,” she says. It is a slumbering place with a neat, well-maintained park, several churches and an 18th century palace that once welcomed local nobility and now serves as a cultural center and library.īut Duzniak tries not to talk about her partner when she’s in her hometown. Kozy - which translates as “Goats” - claims to be Poland’s most populous village. For the first time in my life I’m very, very scared,” Duzniak says, reflecting on the resolution as she walks CNN around her hometown with her girlfriend Ola Głowacka.
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Local laws have been contested, and some communities that introduced such legislation have seen their EU funding blocked.īut the impact is felt most painfully - and daily - by the gay, lesbian and transgender Poles who live in towns that would prefer they simply weren’t there. These areas, where opposition to LGBT “ideology” is symbolically written into law at state and local levels, have put Poland on a collision course with the European Union and forced sister cities, allies and watchdogs across the continent to recoil in condemnation. In little over a year, hundreds of regions across Poland - covering about a third of the country, and more than 10 million citizens - have transformed themselves, overnight, into so-called “LGBT-free zones.”ĭuzniak, left, and Głowacka hope to marry in Poland, but the country currently prohibits any kind of formal same-sex unions. Families “shaped by the centuries-old heritage of Christianity,” and which are “so important for the comprehensive development of our homeland.” “We encourage young people to start families which are by their essence a natural environment for self-realization,” the text reads. Last year, the surrounding Bielsko county - which includes Kozy and dozens of other towns and villages, but not Bielsko-Biala - passed a resolution supporting “traditional family values” and rejecting the LGBT community for “undermining the concept of a family model.” An official document reminds them of that. She is gay, and gay people are not welcome in Kozy. It’s not me.ĭuzniak is a confident, amicable career coach with a partner of 10 years, but she has good reason to hide one important aspect of her personality. “I prefer big cities,” she says, reflecting on her daily journey to work in nearby Bielsko-Biala, an industrial urban sprawl near the border with the Czech Republic.
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But she doesn’t feel herself until she gets into her car each morning, shuts the door and drives away.
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Kozy, Poland (CNN) - Karolina Duzniak has lived in the drowsy, tree-dotted Polish village of Kozy for 26 years.