Polish education minister says homophobic lecturer had every right to teach that ‘being gay is incompatible with nature’
Minister for higher education and science (Jarosław Gowin (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty)
Poland’s education minister has leapt to the defence of a sacked university lecturer who told students that “being gay is incompatible with nature”.
Minister for higher education and science Jarosław Gowin hit out at Silesian Medical University for sacking the lecturer and said they were “violating the constitutional principle of free speech”.
The lecturer was fired after he delivered a lecture titled ‘Homosexuality and Health’ in which he said that homosexuality is associated with health problems such as AIDS, depression and smoking.
Lecturer told students that ‘only men and women fit together’ in bizarre anti-gay lecture.
“Only men and women fit together, physically and also mentally,” the lecturer said, according to Notes from Poland. Images posted online of the lecture slides show that the bibliography was largely made up of random Catholic websites instead of actual academic sources.
Following the lecture, the dean of medical sciences at the university said the university would terminate its contract immediately with the lecturer.
Only men and women fit together, physically and also mentally.
“Homophobic behaviour is not and will not be supported” at the university, a spokeswoman told state broadcaster TVP.
This is not the first time Gowin has made such a move. Earlier this year, he defended a professor who was suspended by a university after he wrote a column in which he called LGBT+ people “travelling rapists” and a “plague”. That professor was later reinstated in his role.
LGBT+ rights have taken a hit in Poland over the last year.
The news comes after a year in which LGBT+ people’s rights were eroded in Poland. The Law and Justice party were elected last month, and activists have said that the party has strengthened homophobia.
Multiple Prides in Poland this year – with many of then being the town’s first ever – were descended upon by hundreds of protesters.
Several towns and villages have declared themselves as “LGBT-free” while religious leaders have called the community a “rainbow plague”.
And critics argue that Jaroslaw Kaczyński’s re-election campaign has only added fuel to the fire especially as lawmakers are considering banning sex education in schools in the latest salvos against the community.
