Polish Election: Tusk leads, Bigotry loses

There' a a long way to go before Poland formally embraces LGBT equality, but there are two encouraging elements from Sunday's general election: the most significant force for institutional bigotry, the conservative Law and Justice party of Jaroslaw Kaczynski was firmly rejected, and for the first time, there is parliamentary representation for a a new left-wing party that supports gay rights, the legalization of marijuana and other liberal causes was poised to gain representation in parliament.  

Tusk leads:

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk enjoyed a strong lead over his conservative rival and predecessor Jaroslaw Kaczynski in parliamentary elections, with his centrist party set to become the first ever in Poland's post-communist era to win a second consecutive term.

That feat underlines the growing political stability in Poland, a central European nation of 38 million whose economy has flourished since it joined the European Union in 2004."

The new party, Palikot's Movement, was in third place in the exit poll with 10 percent. Led by entrepreneur and maverick lawmaker Janusz Palikot, the party gained popularity promising to fight the power of the Roman Catholic church in public life. Unlike in secular Western Europe, the church still has great influence in public life, which can be seen in the strict abortion laws and in the presence of crosses in many public offices.