Andrzej Sebastian Duda (born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and the European Parliament from 2014 to 2015.
As LGBTQ+ Poles celebrate, could election mark a turning point?
The possibility of a power shift in Poland following Sunday’s pivotal election is a glimmer of hope for LGBTQIA+ campaigners in a region where gay and transgender rights have been under attack in recent years.
Poland’s ruling nationalists appeared on Monday to have lost their parliamentary majority, exit polls and partial results showed, potentially opening the way for a government formed by a liberal opposition that wants to legalise same-sex civil unions. “After eight years of hate against people like me, the nightmare is over,” Bart Staszewski, a Polish LGBTQIA+ rights activist, told Openly by phone.
Poland and Hungary’s nationalist governments have railed against “LGBT ideology” in recent years, and the outcome of a Sept.
30 election in Slovakia fuelled concerns about a worsening climate for LGBTQIA+ people in Central and Eastern Europe. During his election campaign, former Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is expected to lead the country’s new coalition government, said adoption by same-sex couples was a “perversion” and that “gender ideology” in schools was “unacceptable”.
