Polish MP disciplined after asking if former Prime Minister is gay
A member of the ruling party in Poland is to be removed as the chair of a parliamentary committee after he publicly questioned if one of his political opponents is gay.
Jaroslaw Kazcynski was Prime Minister from July 2006 until his Law and Justice party was defeated in the November 2007 election.
He has never married and there have been persistent rumours about his sexual orientation.
His identical twin brother Lech Kaczynski is President of Poland.
In August 2006, when quizzed by the EU over his gay rights record, Jaroslaw Kaczynski said he was not a homophobe.
As Prime Minister he proposed a range homophobic legislation, but it was abandoned when he was defeated.
Civic Platform MP Janusz Palikot faced calls for his removal from the party after he accused a former Justice and Law minister Grażyna Gęsicka of “political prostitution,” reports Warsaw Voice.
Mr Palikot also questioned if Mr Kaczynski was gay in a post on his blog, and then last week followed that with a claim that he had been contacted by several people who say they have been “sexually molested” by the former Prime Minister.
Party officials decided to reprimand him and remove him from as as chair of the Friendly State parliamentary committee as a result of his remarks about Mrs Gesicka, but made no comment on the allegations of homosexuality.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said:
“I wish to apologise to Mrs. Grażyna Gęsicka. Janusz Palikot has overstepped the boundaries of political decency in public debate.”
On a state visit to Ireland at the beginning of 2007 President Kaczynski said that the promotion of homosexuality would lead to the eventual destruction of the human race, while Jaroslaw has also been known to make homophobic remarks during his political career.
As Mayor of Warsaw Lech Kaczynski banned the city’s gay pride parade in 2004.
He also banned the event in 2005 while allowing a homophobic counter-demonstration, the “Parade of Normality.”
