Anti-LGBTQ+ Polish Lawmaker Claims Defamation over Gay Allegations
A court in Warsaw on Tuesday is opening a defamation case brought by Poland's most powerful politician, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, against a journalist who publicly alleges the leader is gay.
Kaczynski, the leader of Poland's ruling right-wing party, is demanding an apology and a retraction from journalist and YouTuber Jan Pinski, who made the allegations on his channel last year. He claimed that hiding his sexuality leaves Kaczynski open to blackmail.
Rumors that Kaczynski, a 73-year-old bachelor, is homosexual, have been circulating for years. They especially come in reaction to his and the government's conservative and hostile approach to the LGBTQ community, and refusal to allow same-sex marriage in Poland.
It was not immediately clear whether Kaczynski would be present at the start of the case before the capital city's District Court.
Kaczynski is also demanding that Pinski pay an amount of money to a hospice.