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Polish President Thwarts Gay March in Krakow by Planning Visit to City on Same Day
 

■ King Władysław III, widely regarded as the first gay king of Poland.  Plans by the gay communite to commemorate the 584th anniversary of his birth have been foiled by the Polish President.

KRAKOW, October 24, 2008  –  Gays in Kraków were hoping to stage a “March of Rainbow Tradition” in this historic city next week.  But their plans, initially approved by the city authorities, have been shelved, thanks, it appears, to the Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

The idea of the march was to remember the birthday on October 31 of King Władysław III, widely regarded as the first gay king of Poland – and to place a symbolic flower on his ‘grave’ at Wavel ‘Royal Hill’, close by the city centre.

October 31 was also the date that the Kraków had set aside for the 90th anniversary of the ‘independence’ of the city.

The city authorities suggested a minor change in the route of the march.  Organisers had originally wanted to start in Old Market, but so as not to clash with what up to a few days ago was to have been a relatively minor 90th anniversary event, march organisers were only too willing to start at Florianska Gate, about 300 metres from the market.

“We readily agreed to this,” march spokesperson and Polish ‘ambassador’ of International Les Gay Cultural Network Lukasz Palucki said. 

“Florianska Gate is also very representative place in Kraków – and we didn’t want to disturb the city’s event.”

The “March of Rainbow Tradition” and the amicable compromise became news in the Polish media.

Then at the beginning of the week, President Kaczynski decided he would attend the Kraków 90th anniversary celebrations, which was then elevated from being a local ‘low-key’ affair to a full national event, complete with special regulations and security clampdowns.

“The city has send us official notification that we don’t have permission to march and perform on the streets because of president visit,” Mr. Palucki.

“The President will be there where we planned to have our event.  We are not allowed to be at Wawel – the grave of King Władysław III – on this day.”

“It is hard to say if President Kaczynski is going to Kraków to as a way of banning our march – or just to be part of Krakow’s event,” he added, when asked about any motive for the sudden interest in the Krakow 90th anniversary celebrations.

Despite the cancellation of the march, the scheduled late afternoon and evening events are still going ahead.

There will be a special concert of classical music by the ILGCN band from Budapest at 6pm.

Then from 9pm there will be a Royal Gay Party in the Cocon Club, the largest gay club in Kraków.

■ President Kaczynski is considered one of the most homophobic heads of state in the European Union.  Prior to becoming president he was Mayor of Warsaw where he banned Gay Pride marches.

Warsaw was severely criticised for these bans when the matter was referred to the European Court of Human Rights.

■ King Władysław III was born in Kraków in 1424 and became King at the age of nine.  He was crowned in Wawel Cathedral on July 25, 1434.  Never marrying (contemporary 15th century Polish historians regarded him as homosexual),  King Władysław died on the battelfield at Varna, in today’s Bulgaria, on November 10, 1444 – ten days after his 20th birthday.  But ... legend has it that he was not killed, but escaped with his lover to Turkey, went to France and became a monk and even fled to Madeira in Portugal. 

He was also king of Hungary, and Hungarian gays are due in Kraków next week to take part in the now-cancelled march and rememberace ceremonies.

Poland had had four gay monarchs.  It is one of the very few countries in the world where homosexuality was never a crime.  In fact, medieval Polish has a word for today’s ‘gay’: mężołóstwo

Seed Newsvine  

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