- Title: VARIOUS: U.S. gay couple protest use of wedding video by Polish president
- Date: 24th March 2008
- Summary: (W5) QUEENS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 20, 2008) (REUTERS) FAY WALKING TO THE FRONT DOOR OF HIS AND MOULTON'S HOUSE AND ENTERING FAY WALKING INTO HIS HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRENDAN FAY, SAYING: "They informed me that the president of Poland, in an address to the people of Poland, had used images of our wedding and spoke about gay marriage as being a threat to Po
- Embargoed: 8th April 2008 13:00
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- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA7S9KTEZML9O6BCXGAYKEX1MPV
- Story Text: A gay couple living in New York who got married in Canada are outraged after seeing clips of their wedding on Polish national television, in a speech by Polish president Lech Kaczynski warning against gay marriage in Poland.
When Brendan Fay and Thomas Moulton drove over the U.S. border to Canada in 2003 to get married, they never dreamed they would appear less than five years later in an inflammatory speech by Polish president, Lech Kaczynski. A clip of the couple's wedding was shown during the speech, as well as their marriage certificate.
Fay said that he and Moulton first heard about the broadcast when a Polish radio station called them.
"They informed me that the president of Poland, in an address to the people of Poland, had used images of our wedding and spoke about gay marriage as being a threat to Poland," Fay told Reuters.
"We were shocked to see images of such a beautiful day in our lives, a day of joy, when we celebrated our loving commitment to each other as human persons. That it, that, to see it being used as part of a campaign of intolerance and fear was quite shocking to us," he added, Kaczynski's speech was in opposition to the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon, due to be signed in Poland on March 28, which seeks to assure rights of sexual orientation and same sex marriage in EU countries. In his speech, Kaczynski warned that same sex marriage would be a danger to the predominantly Catholic country.
Fay wrote a letter to the Polish consul-general in NY and was politely met by staff when he delivered it. The consul-general has agreed to talk with the couple, a meeting due to take place next Tuesday (March 25) or Wednesday (March 26).
"Perhaps I would like to see the president and the prime minister come out and very strongly affirm lesbian and gay persons as being a significant part of Polish society and to begin to work to extend to them equal rights and protections," Fay said.
Fay, a documentary producer and Moulton, a doctor at an oncology unit in the Bronx, are both Catholic and met at Sunday mass. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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