Polish LGBT+ Activists are cleared of offending 'Religious Feelings'

Poland launches a shameful attack on three women for adding the rainbow flag to the 'Black Madonna.' The act was said to have "offended religious feelings."

K. Atys / Agencja Gazeta

A court case was launched against the activists, Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna under article 196 of the Criminal Code. They faced up to 2 years in prison.

International NGO's and Human Rights Organizations have described the court case as a scare tactic. Designed to intimidate and deter activists in Poland from continuing with their work. But this had the opposite effect.

According to Amnesty International: "The authorities arrested and detained Elżbieta in 2019 after she took a trip abroad with Amnesty International. The authorities opened an initial investigation against her in May 2019 and in July 2020, they officially charged the three activists. The Polish authorities alleged that the three activists pasted the posters on 29 April 2019 in public places in the city of Plock and have ‘publicly insulted an object of religious worship in the form of this image which offended the religious feelings of others’."

LGBT+ activist, Remy Bonny, interviewed the women accused of this crime in his Pride Podcast on 13th January 2021, which happened to be the same day of the trial.

The European Commission must work harder to make sure that these unnecessary show trials do not happen again; It is intimidation and bullying.

Notable Polish activist Bart Staszewski attended the trial. For more inspiration follow Bart's Twitter.