Looking at pictures of Gay Men: Political uses of homophobia in contemporary Poland

Public Culture

Volumn 22, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 583-603

  Graff, Agnieszka ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 78649399367     PISSN: 08992363     EISSN: 15278018     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1215/08992363-2010-010     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. For a chronological account of these developments, see Agnieszka Graff, "We Are (Not All) Homophobes: A Report from Poland," Feminist Studies 32 (2006): 434 - 49.
2. On the legal aspects of the LGBT community's struggle for the right to freedom of assembly, see Adam Bodnar, "Shaping the Freedom of Assembly: Counter-productive Effects of the Polish Road towards Illiberal Democracy," in Free to Protest: Constituent Power and Street Demonstration, ed. Andra Sajo (Utrecht: Eleven International, 2009), 165 - 87.
3. For a study performed in terms of influence, pressure, and persuasion, see Conor O'Dwyer, "From Conditionality to Persuasion? Europeanization and the Rights of Sexual Minorities in Post-accession Poland," Journal of European Integration 32 (2010): 229-47.
4. Statement from interview, April 20, 2007, quoted in Bodnar, "Shaping the Freedom of Assembly," 169.
5. I develop this argument in Agnieszka Graff, "The Land of Real Men and Real Women: Gender and EU Accession in Three Polish Weeklies," in Global Empowerment of Women: Responses to Globalization and Politicized Religions, ed. Carolyn M. Elliott (New York: Routledge, 2008), 191 - 212.
6. See, for instance, Julie Mostov, "Sexing the Nation/Desexing the Body: Politics of National Identity in the Former Yugoslavia," in Gender Ironies of Nationalism: Sexing the Nation, ed. Tamar Mayer (London: Routledge, 2000), 89 - 112.
7. Éric Fassin, "Our Heterosexual Culture and Their Homophobic Cultures: Two Versions of European Sexual Democracy" (paper presented at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting, Washington, D.C., November 28 - December 2, 2007).
8. Judith Butler, "Sexual Politics, Torture, and Secular Time," British Journal of Sociology 59 (2008): 1 - 23.
9. Butler, "Sexual Politics," 5.
10. "European Parliament Resolution on Homophobia in Europe," January 18, 2006, www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2006-0018+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN.
11. The other two resolutions are "European Parliament Resolution on the Increase in Racist and Homophobic Violence in Europe," June 15, 2006, www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2006-0273+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN.
12. "European Parliament Resolution of 26 April 2007 on Homophobia in Europe," April 26, 2007, www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2007-0167+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN.
13. See also "Poland: Official Homophobia Threatens Human Rights," Human Rights Watch letter to Polish president Lech Kaczyński, February 14, 2006, hrw.org/en/news/2006/02/14/poland-official-homophobia-threatens-human-rights.
14. "European Parliament Resolution of 26 April 2007." .
15. Chirac said, "Je crois qu'ils ont manqué une bonne occasion de se taire." .
16. Jacques Chirac, press conference, February 17, 2003, transcript, www.monde-diplomatique.fr/cahier/europe/conf-chirac. The statement has been endlessly quoted, often out of context, as evidence of Western paternalism.
17. "Biskupi skrytykowali rezolucje{ogonek} europarlamentu nt. homofobii" (" Bishops Critiqued Resolution of Euro-Parliament against Homophobia"), E-KAI [Catholic Information Agency Internet service], January 31, 2006, ekai.pl/wydarzenia/x10560/biskupi-skrytykowali-rezolucje-europarlamentu-nt-homofobii/. All translations from Polish to English are mine.
18. "Niesprawiedliwe oskarzenia Polski o homofobie{ogonek}?" (" Poland Unfairly Accused of Homophobia?"), June 16, 2006, wiadomosci.wp.pl/wiadomosc.html?kat=1342&wid=8353619&rfbawp=1150459157.000&ticaid=1761.
19. For more details on this incident and other symptoms of political homophobia, see Robert Biedroń, "How Has Discrimination against Gays and Lesbians Become a Political Issue?" in Situation of Bisexual and Homosexual Persons in Poland: 2005 and 2006 Report, ed. Marta Abramowicz (Warsaw: Campaign Against Homophobia and Lambda, 2007), 37 - 44, kph.org.pl/images/stories/raporty/raport_homofobia_2007_EN_screen.pdf.
20. Piotr Pacewicz, "Parlament Europejski: Polska oaza{ogonek} homofobii" (" European Parliament Views Poland as Oasis of Homophobia"), Gazeta Wyborcza, April 27, 2007.
21. Krzysztof Jasiński, "Powstrzymać antypolska{ogonek} ofensywe{ogonek}," Nasz Dziennik, May 5, 2007.
22. The petition "Homosexual Hands off Poland" was prepared by the U.S.-based Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. The text of the petition can be found at www.prawica.net/node/6969 (accessed February 1, 2009).
23. For more on the ironic appropriation of homophobe as an identity on the right, see Graff, "We Are (Not) All Homophobes," 447.
24. Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, Legendy krwi: Antropologia przesa{ogonek}du (Legends of Blood: Anthropology of a Superstition) (Warsaw: WAB, 2008), 51.
25. The most developed Polish Jew list on the Web, regularly updated with new discoveries, illustrated with racist caricatures, is "Lista Żydów w zniewalanej Polsce" (" List of Jews in Enslaved Poland"), www.polonica.net/Lista_zydow_w_zniewalanej_Polsce.htm (accessed February 14, 2009).
26. Brief, specialized lists appear on various forums, with the intention of warning readers against "Jewish conspirators" whose real names are revealed (e.g., the Kaczyński brothers are revealed to be really the Kalkstein brothers).
27. See "List of Jewish Conspirators," www.grupy.egospodarka.pl/Lista-zakonspirowanych-Zydow,p,701320,9.html (accessed February 14, 2009).
28. Błazej Warkocki, "Biedni Polacy patrza{ogonek} na homoseksualistów" (" Poor Poles Look at Homo-sexuals"), in Homofobia po polsku (Homophobia in Polish), ed. Zbyszek Sypniewski and Błazej Warkocki (Warsaw: Sic! 2004), 151 - 70.
29. Bozena Umińska, "Wojna z lesbijkami i gejami" (" War against Lesbians and Gays"), Przegla{ogonek}d, June 13, 2004.
30. Quoted in Dziennik, March 28, 2008.
31. Butler, "Sexual Politics," 1.
32. Wojciech Roszkowski, "Lobby homoseksualne" (" The Homosexual Lobby"), Rzeczpospolita, January 19, 2005.
33. Quoted in Igor Stokfiszewski, "Klemm jest Żydem" (" Klemm Is a Jew"), Krytyka Polityczna, February 5, 2009, www.krytykapolityczna.pl/Igor-Stokfiszewski/Klemm-jest-Zydem/menu-id-194.html.
34. Adam Ostolski, "Spiskowcy i gorszyciele: Judaizowanie gejów w polskim dyskursie prawicowym" (" Conspirators, Corruptors, Pariahs: The Judaization of Gay People in Polish Right-Wing Discourse"), in Jak siê dzielimy i co nas łâczy (How We Are Divided and What Keeps Us Together), ed. Ewa Nowicka and Małgorzata Głowacka-Grajper (Krakow: NOMOS, 2007), 156 - 78. An English translation is available from the author upon request: adam.ostolski@krytykapolityczna.pl.
35. George Mosse, Nationalism and Sexuality: Respectability and Abnormal Sexuality in Modern Europe (New York: Howard Fertig, 1985), 133 - 52.
36. "Telewizyjne ore{ogonek}dzie prezydenta" (" The President's Television Address"), Gazeta Wyborcza, March 18, 2008, wyborcza.pl/1,76842,5032947.html.
37. For the factual details of the case, see Andy Humm, "Polish Prez Targets NY Gay Couple," Gay City, March 27, 2008, gaycitynews.com/articles/2008/03/27/gay_city_news_archives/top%20news%20stories/19429390.txt.
38. Brendan Fay and Thomas Moulton to Lech Kaczyński, March 25, 2008. A copy of the letter is available upon request from Fay: brendan@stpatsforall.com.
39. Teraz My (Now It Is Us) talk show on TVN, hosted by Andrzej Morozowski and Tomasz Sekielski, aired April 1, 2008.
40. Video and program description (in Polish) posted at www.tvn24.pl/-1,1544344,wiadomosc.html (accessed February 1, 2009).
41. "NY Couple Visit Poland after Leader's Anti-Gay Speech," AP news release, March 31, 2008, www.cnn.com/.
42. Jacek Kurski for TVN24, April 1, 2008. Video posted at www.tvn24.pl/-1,1544344,wiadomosc.html.
43. Teraz My.
44. Fassin, "Our Heterosexual Culture." .
45. Butler, "Sexual Politics," 4.
46. Susan Moller Okin, "Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?" in Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? Susan Moller Okin with Respondents, ed. Joshua Cohen, Matthew Howard, and Martha C. Nussbaum (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999), 9 - 24.
47. Butler, "Sexual Politics," 5.
48. Taka miłość sie{ogonek} nie zdarza: Tomasz Raczek (Such Love Never Happens: Tomasz Raczek), TVN Style, aired August 10, 2008, posted at video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1645740715958 537632.