- Title: Gay activists fear more discrimination as Poland's Duda wins second term
- Date: 13th July 2020
- Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 13, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GAY MARRIED COUPLE JAKUB KWIECINSKI AND DAWID MYCEK SITTING ON PARK BENCH (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) GAY MARRIED COUPLE, JAKUB KWIECINSKI AND DAWID MYCEK, SAYING: DAWID MYCEK: "When we saw results from 90% of polling stations we lost hope. We lost everything." JAKUB KWIECINSKI: "When we came home and we saw the latest results ... I remember I was wiping Dawid's tears when we saw the exit polls because it is not even about who won Duda or Trzaskowski, but it is about disappointment with people." MYCEK AND KWIECINSKI SPEAKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) GAY MARRIED COUPLE, JAKUB KWIECINSKI AND DAWID MYCEK, SAYING: JAKUB KWIECINSKI: "It looks like we live in a country where hatred wins over love, it looks like we live in a country where fear wins over the openness towards others, in a country where lies win over honesty and I am saying all of this as an ordinary person who is disappointed with people around, disappointed with my neighbours, disappointed with my fellow countrymen." MYCEK AND KWIECINSKI SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) GAY MARRIED COUPLE, JAKUB KWIECINSKI AND DAWID MYCEK, SAYING: DAWID MYCEK: "We feel powerless. This is the first presidential campaign I know, which was based on hate, hate speech and dividing Poles. Right now Poles are equally divided into two even halves, which will never be united again. We don't match each other." MYCEK AND KWIECINSKI TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) GAY MARRIED COUPLE, JAKUB KWIECINSKI AND DAWID MYCEK, SAYING: JAKUB KWIECINSKI: "I think this anti-LGBT rhetoric PiS (Law and Justice) has been following, will soon end among the PiS politicians, because there is no point repeating the same words. However, these words will return as stones and this is something PiS politicians will have no influence on. They triggered the machine (of anti-LGBT rhetoric), a huge machine which they cannot control anymore." MYCEK AND KWIECINSKI SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) GAY MARRIED COUPLE, JAKUB KWIECINSKI AND DAWID MYCEK, SAYING: DAWID MYCEK: "The assaults (on LGBT people) that happen more and more often, in Krakow, in Wroclaw, it is all to make us fear." JOURNALIST ASKING: "Are you afraid?" DAWID MYCEK: "Yes, we are afraid." MYCEK AND KWIECINSKI WALKING AWAY
- Embargoed: 27th July 2020 15:57
- Keywords: Andrzej Duda LGBT in Poland Polish election Polish president Rafal Trzaskowski
- Location: WARSAW, GDANSK, GDYNIA AND HEL, POLAND
- City: WARSAW, GDANSK, GDYNIA AND HEL, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001CMN7ZUV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: For Jakub Kwiecinski and Dawid Mycek, Polish gay couple and LGBT activists, the election win of incumbent president Andrzej Duda comes with fear and disappointment.
Duda, 48, elected for a second five-year term, sought to paint himself during the election campaign as the guardian of the government's social programmes while mobilising his conservative base with attacks on LGBT (lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender) activism.
In the last weeks of campaigning, Duda said that LGBT "ideology" was more dangerous than communist doctrine, and pledged to ensure public schools are banned from discussing gay rights.
To many religious conservatives in the predominantly Catholic nation, Duda's challenger centrist Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski came to represent the threats facing traditional values when he pledged to introduce education about LGBT rights in Warsaw schools.
However, many members of the LGBT community fear discrimination under a Duda presidency.
"We feel powerless," said Dawid Mycek, 35, an LGBT activist and Youtuber. "This is the first presidential campaign I know, which was based on hate, hate speech and dividing Poles," he added saying assaults on LGBT people happen more and more often and they fear that even though the campaign is over, more discrimination will follow.
"These words will return as stones ... PiS politicians triggered the machine of anti-LGBT rhetoric which they cannot control anymore," Mycek's husband, Jakub Kwiecinski said.
Nearly final results from Sunday's (July 12) presidential election run-off showed Duda on over 51%, giving him an unassailable lead over liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who won almost 49% of the votes.
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