The Equality March is a celebration of universal human values: freedom, equality of citizens before the law, and the protection of minority rights. It is also the LGBT+ community and its allies’ first public presentation to the entire Bolesławiec County community.
The mission of the Equality March is complete political impartiality and concern for respect for the LGBT+ community in Bolesławiec County. In September, the March would have to be organized amid the fever of the election campaign. Politicians can easily exploit emotions related to the rights of people with minority sexual orientations simply to increase their chances of winning the maximum number of votes. We cannot agree to such a possibility.
We set the date of the First Equality March in Bolesławiec when the date of the parliamentary elections was still unknown. We are disgusted by the course of the political debate during the campaign of some politicians. Seeing the petty and vile slogans they are capable of resorting to simply to gain more votes, we decided that the First Equality March will take place on October 22, 2023, one week after the parliamentary elections.
We realize that after October 15, 2023, Poland will be in a different political situation. Either a better one for democracy in Poland and minority rights, or a worse one. In either case, it will be important to take part in the March.
One of the most important things for the organizers is to present LGBT+ people in the county in the best possible light. We want to showcase their art: we will have time to present an exhibition of works by LGBT+ children, young people, and adults.
We also have the city president’s support for organizing a panel on October 21 for school principals, teachers, and parents. Specialists from various fields will discuss how to care for the health and well-being of children and young people with minority sexual orientations in Bolesławiec schools, as well as what organizing Rainbow Fridays looks like in other schools in Poland. We also hope for the same support on this important issue from Tomasz Gabrysiak and the County Office.
The matter is serious. We need to care for the well-being of LGBT+ children and young people and start discussing it with teachers. In Poland, approximately 200 LGBT+ teenagers attempt suicide every year, including 25 who lose their lives.
As many as 74% of LGBT+ teenagers in Poland think about taking their own lives (data from the report “The Social Situation of LGBTA People in Poland 2019–2020” by the Campaign Against Homophobia and Lambda Warszawa). If we combine this with the estimated number of LGBT+ teenagers (according to Dalia Research 2016, LGBT people make up 4.9% of Polish society) and the ratio of suicide attempts among teenagers to deaths resulting from them (the average for 2017–2020 was 13%, according to Police data), we see the devastating toll of homophobia and transphobia in Poland. Society is not, however, aware of these tragic statistics. Each year, only isolated cases are described by the media.