Robert Biedroń, Poland's first openly gay MP

b April 13, 1976 in Krosno, Poland

Robert Biedroń is a Polish LGBT activist and politician. He was previously a member of Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland and the Democratic Left Alliance, but is now a member of Palikot's Movement. He is also the board member of the Polish Campaign Against Homophobia.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Sejm (Polish parliament) in 2005 (from Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej), the Democratic Left Alliance, the main left wing party. In the October 2011 parliamentary elections he was elected to Sejm (Polish Parliament) getting 16,919 votes in Gdynia district, from Palikot's Movement list. He is thus the first openly gay Member of Parliament in Poland.

Palikot's Movement is a new, progressive party known for its liberal views including supporting LGBT rights, abortion, and legalizing "soft drugs", which gained 40 seats in the Sejm, making it the third largest party.

Related articles

• Anna Grodzka Becomes Poland's First Openly Transgender Member of Parliament (huffingtonpost.com)
• AP Interview: New Polish party on the rise (sfgate.com)

Transgender woman poised for seat in Poland's new parliament

Anna Grodzka has become Poland's first openly transgender parliamentarian.

Grodzka, who transitioned last year, secured a place in the Sejm, the nation's lower house of parliament, reports Warsaw Business Journal.

The politician, who is the founder and president of NGO Trans-Fuzja, received 19,541 votes the Kraków II electoral district.

"Today, Poland is changing. I am the proof along with Robert Biedron, a homosexual and the head of an anti-homophobia campaign who ran for office in Gdynia," Grodzka said.

She also noted the day before her win was confirmed, "If I'll be elected in Krakow, I'll be Poland's first transgender woman, and the only transgender [member of parliament] not only in Poland, but the entire world," adding, "In New Zealand, there was Georgina Beyer, but she is no longer an MP since 2007."

Grodzka joined the Palikot's Movement (RP) after many years with the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).

Warsaw Business Journal notes that RP is known for its liberal views including supporting LGBT rights, abortion, and legalizing "soft drugs."

- Huffington Post

Related Posts:

Georgina Beyer, Trans Politician

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.

Marriage Equality: Progress in Poland, Estonia?

When I wrote earlier this week about the EU Declaration on LGBT human rights, I referred to heavily Catholic Poland as an example of strong resistance to equality. That was an oversimplification. A Hungarian reader, Kal,  noted that

There are serious homophobic tedences not only in Poland unfortunatly. The situation is similar in all country of Central and Eastern Europe, whiche belonged to communist block previously. I wrote a short article about this topic in  kaleidoscope.blog.hu.

Kal is correct, and his caution should be noted. however, the situation is Poland is also more nuanced than I suggested. Even without the EU declaration, there are some remarkable changes in public sentiment, as I discovered when doing some background digging follow up on a report on proposals for civil unions in Estonia.

Source: Wikipedia (Click to enlarge, and for key)