We wrote about the matter in the article Letter to Gromadka Municipality councillors concerning equal treatment of families
Statement by the Chairperson of the Gromadka Municipal Council regarding the letter from the “Wolna Gromadka” Association addressed to councillors.
I read the letter from the “Wolna Gromadka” Association to the councillors with astonishment. Once again, it is confirmed that the activists confuse documents, because not one of the allegations is reflected in the Local Government Charter of Family Rights (SKPR). Therefore, once again I ask you to read the SKPR and stop lying to and manipulating people.
In a month, two years will have passed since the SKPR came into force in Gromadka Municipality. Please give me even one example of a person harmed by the Municipality, the Municipal Council or any institution subordinate to the Municipality—or perhaps an entrepreneur who encountered difficulties in running a business because of the SKPR. It is difficult for me to take responsibility for an individual’s subjective feelings, especially when that person is constantly being manipulated by the “Wolna Gromadka” activists.
The adoption of the SKPR is intended to support and strengthen the family as the basis and foundation of a strong state and a strong society. We want working parents to feel safe at their workplace, employers to support the families of their employees or customers through various preferences and conveniences, and entrepreneurs themselves to be supported by us in such activities; they have families too.
We read in the letter to the councillors that we trivialise domestic violence caused by alcohol abuse. Where is that written in the SKPR? Where in the SKPR do we undermine the right to freely conduct business activity? Only families whose members love and respect one another guarantee safety—our collective safety, as well as their own safety as a family community and that of their children. Domestic violence arises precisely when the values discussed in the SKPR disappear. Another absurdity and lie is the claim that we divide society and discriminate against anyone. The SKPR does not mention this even once; the acronym LGBT is not used even once, and we do not mention so-called non-heteronormative people. We are not interested in sexual preferences; that is a private and personal matter for every individual. No one in Gromadka Municipality asks about it. And claiming that “the adopted resolution deprives children of their agency” is simply absurd!
In our resolution, we point to one of the fundamental rights: parents’ right to raise their own children according to their own beliefs, not those of a teacher, activist or anyone else. I am a firm supporter of having sex education provided by specialists, psychologists and sexologists—not by a retired activist claiming the right to do so merely because he has established an association. I believe that preschool- and school-age children should be raised by their parents, not by activists who want to provide sex education without asking parents for permission, while institutions such as nurseries, preschools and schools should play a supporting role, in accordance with the Education Act, supporting parents rather than replacing them.
The most frequently repeated allegation against the SKPR is that we discriminate against single mothers or other incomplete families. No! The SKPR states that parenthood is what matters most, including both motherhood and fatherhood. Life presents various situations, often dramatic or tragic, as a result of which children are raised by a single mother or father, grandparents or relatives. For us, that is still a family. I have repeatedly emphasised that single parents in particular require assistance from the Municipality’s local government. What matters, however, is that the law should not discriminate against married couples. It often happens that a child’s parents live together and raise their children jointly, but it pays to pretend—deceiving the Municipality, that is, all of us taxpayers—that one is a single parent in order to receive more money in the form of various benefits. Married couples even decide to divorce solely to obtain such benefits. Is that fair? We want money to go where help is actually needed—to those most in need.
I do not want to go into greater detail about how the “Wolna Gromadka” Association operates, where the association’s authorities, allegedly fighting for equality, love and respect, have themselves introduced censorship of statements among their members, spread hate speech and contempt for other people, and repeatedly call councillors all sorts of offensive names. They loudly claim that they appealed to the Voivode to repeal the SKPR, but after receiving a response they no longer mention it because it does not meet their expectations. Similarly, they claim that they asked the Municipal Office how many millions the Municipality’s residents had lost because of this shameful SKPR, but after receiving a response that no one had taken a single penny from us and that no funding had been withheld, they remain silent. One person from the Municipal Council admitted that, in connection with the SKPR, they are being harassed at work. Is this what equality and tolerance are supposed to mean? From this place, I appeal to the councillors not to let themselves be intimidated and to defend their decision of 27 November 2019.
I continue to hope that we live in a state governed by the rule of law and democracy, where the majority elected in lawful elections governs, and that anyone who commits defamation or violates personal rights should face the consequences. The “Wolna Gromadka” letter to the councillors is full of manipulation, including regarding the lawsuit against the “Atlas of Hate” activists. We are suing these people for violating our good name and personal rights. We are not hateful or aggressive, we do not despise others, discriminate or segregate people. Everyone is welcome, and I guarantee that no one will ask anyone about their views, sexual preferences or anything similar. We are not suing them for placing Gromadka Municipality on the map of local governments that adopted the SKPR; we are suing them for placing us on the hate map. Please also do not manipulate the fact that other local governments repealed resolutions, because the local governments in question repealed anti-LGBT resolutions.
It should also be mentioned that constitutional-law experts have confirmed the SKPR’s compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, including Prof. Anna Łabno, PhD hab., of the University of Silesia and Jacek Zaleśny, PhD hab., of the University of Warsaw. The opinions are publicly available.
Please publish the response of the Lower Silesian Voivode to the request to repeal the SKPR by the Gromadka Municipal Council, submitted by the “Kultura Równości” Association at the initiative of activists from the “Wolna Gromadka” Association.
Kind regards to everyone.
Chairperson of the Gromadka Municipal Council Krzysztof Król
Below, we publish the response of the Lower Silesian Voivode concerning the adoption of the Local Government Charter of Family Rights in Gromadka Municipality.
