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A Tale Of Two States: Polish Expats In Malta Fear The Worst For LGBT Rights In Their Home Countries

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Malta may be something of a haven for LGBT rights, and Polish people are certainly not taking this for granted.

Far-right political figures are spawning across Europe. Last week in Poland, President Andrzej Duda became the second president to be reelected since the communist regime collapsed in 1989. His close victory against moderate Rafał Trzaskowski, means many on the peripheries of Polish society, including LGBT communities, fear the worst.

A blatantly anti-gay agenda was central to Duda’s re-election campaign, critics of ruling party Law and Justice Party (PiS) say, with the party declaring LGBT ideology to be worse than communism.  And besides alarming officials in Brussels, Poland is the worst-performing for LGBT rights in the EU, according to LGBT rights group ILGA-Europe.

On the other side of the index, Malta boasts top scores for laws and rights for LGBT concerns in Europe. Now, with the next three years under PIS’s belt, Polish expats are concerned about an identity migration wave from their home state.

But how does Malta square up to Poland?

Lovin Malta spoke to two Polish expats who fear for the upcoming years.

Andrea* is a gay, Polish psychologist who has lived in Malta with his partner for the last seven years. He says that besides the economic prospects, the brewing homophobia in Poland is one of the main reasons they made the move to Malta.

“Seven years ago, LGBT issues weren’t talked about much here in Malta,” Andrea said. “Divorce was introduced just two years prior to our arrival.”

But once civil partnerships were legalised, Andrea and his partner entered into their own union. Then, they converted it into marriage after Malta wrote it into legislation in 2017.

And whilst many like Andrea become economic migrants, the far-right leadership in Poland makes some like Andrea fear a wave of identity migrants could be next. 

“The situation is difficult is for everyone”, Andrea said. “The only thing we have in place in Poland is the protection of sexual identity at the workplace.”

Lukas* works in IT, and whilst he does not identify within the LGBT community, he is an adamant ally and shares Andreas concerns for the community. He says that while he is not an economic migrant, he says he moved his family to Malta for political reasons.

“I moved here because I didn’t want to live in Poland ruled by the PIS party,” he said.

Lukas didn’t want his daughter to live in a country where one can offend you because of your different sexual orientation, gender or race.

He described the government’s rhetoric against the group as “awful.”

“They’re saying they’re not people. They’re saying LGBT is an ideology we should fight against. There were already some attacks against LGBT people after those words. There’s more and more racism and it’s supported quietly by the government.”

On 10th June, President Duda signed a “Family Charter” of election proposals, including pledges to prevent gay couples from marrying or adopting children and to ban teaching about LGBT issues in schools.

“The coming years might be very hard for LGBT people in Poland because the aggression against them is legitimised by the government and continues to grow.”

In fact, psychologist Andrea says he is in involved in LGBT groups in Poland, and many look to move out because of Duda’s reelection.

“Malta gives great freedom to be yourself; there is a great job market and many opportunities. I feel absolutely safe. No one gives strange looks here.”

Andrea, who was in Poland to vote when Lovin Malta interviewed him, was constantly watching his surroundings in a corner of a food store to make sure he wasn’t heard.

“In Poland, I check everything I say twice.”

But this doesn’t mean Malta doesn’t have space to improve. In ILGA’s own index that placed Malta first, the small island state lacked in one category: protection for those who seek asylum on the basis of sexual orientation. Malta only scored 33% here.

Meanwhile, Norway has announced it will prioritise LGBT refugees as a group and individuals when it comes to transfers for permanent resettlements.

*Names have been changed for protection 

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Sam is a journalist, artist and writer based in Malta. Send her pictures of hands or need-to-know stories on politics or art on [email protected].

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