Polish Gay Married Couple Call for 'Help' from Pope Francis
A high-profile gay married Polish couple hoisted a rainbow flag in St. Peter's Square on Aug. 16, hoping to catch the eye of Pope Francis. But the multicolored stripes representing LGBTQ pride weren't the message that Jakub Kwiecinski and Dawid Mycek wanted the pontiff to see, reports Washington Latest. Rather, it was the single word written across the flag in large letters the couple needed the leader of the Catholic church to see:
"HELP"
The couple posted a photo of themselves hoisting the rainbow flag in an Aug. 16 Instagram post. In it (translated from Polish by Google Translate), the couple wrote:
Such was the view that Pope Francis had today under his window during the Angelus.
Our big rainbow flag was flying proudly for several dozen minutes, and on it a large inscription HELP.
Because since Pope Francis himself wears a rainbow cross and says: "It doesn't matter that you are gay! God loves you as you are", it is time for the Polish Church to teach the same, which still fuels hatred towards LGBT people.
We were amazed how many Catholics from different countries approached us with words of support. Nobody felt offended by the rainbow, the police did not chase us out, and when we were alone in the square an hour longer, one of the priests came to us, offered water and listened to what we had to say. We also used the LGBT discussion panel we're attending to report on Poland!
Because the rainbow does not offend!
Kwiecinski and Mycek made international headlines last April when they responded to right-wing propaganda, particularly the archbishop's "rainbow plague" comment, by making and distributing hundreds of rainbow-colored masks for free, in an effort to help combat a real plague: The global COVID-19 pandemic.
The anti-LGTBQ propaganda that has swamped Poland hasn't just been the work of politicians; Catholic clerics have joined in as well, including Krakow's Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski, who infamously used the occasion of the Warsaw Uprising's 75th anniversary last year to accuse LGBTQ people of being a "rainbow plague." The church's collaboration in the spreading of homophobic messages has had a major effect, since the church is a major influence in the formerly Communist country.
The church's leadership has offered mixed messages on non-heterosexual and non-cisgender people, saying that while all people are worthy of "respect," gay and lesbian people should regard themselves as being "called" by God to lead celibate and lonely lives. The church has gone so far as to dismiss committed same-sex couples as being "intrinsically immoral" and "objectively disordered" because they are not heterosexual.
Those claims make no distinction between Catholics and people who do not share the faith.
But people of faith also at St. Peter's Square that day showed the couple kindness, Kwiecinski and Mycek said in their Instagram post.
"We were amazed how many Catholics from different countries approached us with words of support," they wrote. "Nobody felt offended by the rainbow, the police did not chase us out, and when we were alone in the square an hour longer, one of the priests came to us, offered water and listened to what we had to say. We also used the LGBT discussion panel we're attending to report on Poland!"
As harsh as Poland's right-wing government has been toward LGBTQ people in recent years, the homophobic rhetoric has only grown worse in the aftermath of a narrow electoral victory by incumbent President Andrzej Duda, whose hate-fueled claims have included the statement that "LGBT are not people," but rather "an ideology."
More than a third of Poland's communities have adopted a slogan saying that they are "LGBTQ-Free Zones," which has led some sister cities in Western countries to cut ties with their Polish counterparts. Meantime, since the election took place, many LGBTQ Poles are leaving the country if they can.
But the couple are unbowed in their determination to stand strong for LGBTQ equality. Last June, they even appeared in a condom commercial by Durex - the first time a same-sex couple has appeared in such an ad in Poland.