Around 5pm, the Polish Parliament has voted in a law that will be a de-facto ban on LGBTQ+ topics in schools. The bill resembles anti-propaganda laws that have already been adopted in Russia and Hungary.
In a new educational reform in Poland, dubbed as ‘Lex Czarnek’, Polish Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek is orchestrating a power grab of the Polish education system. The reform will amongst other things prohibit NGOs from giving LGBTIQ+ inclusive sex education and provide the possibility to dismiss principals not following the policies of the national government.
Mid-November 2021 the Polish Council of Ministers adopted the draft of Lex Czarnek. The law change gives a lot more power to the School Superintendent. In Poland, a School Superintendent is a manager in charge of several schools that fall under the supervision of the Polish Ministry of Education. When Lex Czarnek will be adopted, the school superintendent will play a crucial role in selecting a candidate for the post of head of a school.
Besides that, Lex Czarnek will oblige the headteacher – prior to the commencement of classes conducted by associations or organisations – to obtain detailed information on the plan of activities at school and the outline of the classes and materials used during the offered classes, as well as to obtain a positive opinion of the school superintendent for the activities of such an organisation at school or institution. Participation of a pupil in activities conducted by associations or organisations will require a written consent of a parent of a minor pupil or a consent of an adult pupil.
Rémy Bonny, executive director of pan-European advocacy group Forbidden Colours says,
“After years of rhetorical campaigns against the LGBTIQ+ community, the Polish government has officially joined Russia and Hungary in legally scapegoating the LGBTIQ+ community as a way of dismantling democracy and human rights. Children are the next victim in Poland’s war on inclusion and democracy.”
“I call upon the EU member states to put as much as possible diplomatic pressure on the Polish government. No child in the European Union should be bullied by its government.“, Bonny concluded.
Rémy Bonny is a political scientist and LGBTQI activist from Belgium. He is a specialist in the way the LGBTI-movement’s demands construct international relations – specifically in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Rémy is since April 2021 the executive director of Forbidden Colours NPO.
In recent years, Rémy has been conducting research to the interactions between illiberal states like Vladimir Putin’s Russian Federation and the European Union and former Soviet Republics. Therefore, he has been living in Budapest, Brussels, Warsaw and Venice.
As an advocate and researcher in LGBTQI-Politics, Rémy travels around the world to talk to LGBTI-organisations, high-level policy makers and academics about his research and the situation in their countries and in the EU.
His work has been recognised by many international media and institutes. He was one of the speakers privileged to speak during the official 50th commemoration of the Stonewall Uprising in New York City.
