NYC man protest
Polish president
for anti-gay marriage
speech
By AP from the Web.
March 19, 2008
WARSAW, Poland -- A gay New
York man has filed a complaint against the Polish president for using images of
him and his partner in a national speech condemning homosexual marriage.
The images related to the wedding of Brendan Fay to Tom Moulton were woven into
President Lech Kaczynski's televised address to the nation Monday night.
Fay said that Polish immigrants and reporters began calling him on Tuesday,
asking how he felt about having his image used in the address.
"My initial reaction was one of surprise and shock really," said Fay, a longtime
gay activist who is a co-founder of the All Inclusive St. Patrick's Day Parade
in Queens.
The images -- including a marriage certificate identifying the couple -- were
shown as the president warned against the dangers of adopting the EU's new
treaty and its Charter of Fundamental Rights, which Kaczynski says could open
the door to same-sex marriage in Poland.
Fay said he submitted his complaint to the Polish consulate in New York on
Tuesday.
"Our images clearly were being used in a campaign by the president of Poland
against lesbian and gay persons, and fostering intolerance and fear among the
people of Poland," he said on Wednesday morning.
In his letter to consul Krzysztof Kasprzyk, Fay wrote that the couple is
"frustrated to hear that images from such a joyous day are used to spread
intolerance."
He later added that the couple "would never have agreed to permit our
photographs as part of a homophobic campaign."
There is little support for same-sex marriage in Poland, a deeply Catholic
country which joined the European Union in 2004. The Polish constitution
states that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
As mayor of Warsaw, Kaczynski refused to grant parade permits for gay rights
marches, while his twin brother, former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has
said "it's not in the interest of any society to increase the number of
homosexuals."
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