Waldemar Zboralski

Waldemar Zboralski (born 4 June 1960^[1]) is a Polish veteran gay rights activist,^[2][3][4] politician, and journalist.

Waldemar Zboralski
Waldemar Zboralski (2009)
Born	(1960-06-04) 4 June 1960 (age 63) Nowa Sól

Life

Zboralski was born in Nowa Sól where he grew up and graduated from high school.

He became a victim to the secret Operation Hyacinth^[5][6] organised by the Polish communist police. The purpose of the operation was to create a national database of all homosexuals and people who had some sort of contact with them.^[7]

Zboralski arrived in Warsaw in 1986 and lived there for two years – from January 1986 to April 1988 – where he was an active participant and organizer of Warsaw gay movement.^[4] In 1987, he was a co-founder and the first chairman of Warsaw Gay Movement.^[8][9] In March 1988 Zboralski and a group of 15 people, including Sławek Starosta and Krzysztof Garwatowski, filed a formal application to register the Warsaw Gay Movement.^[4] The application was rejected due to an intervention from General Kiszczak, Minister of Internal Affairs, for stated reasons of "public morality".^[4]

Zboralski was called by Radio Free Europe's research as a member of “Independent movement in Eastern Europe” for the first time on 17 November 1988.^[10]

According to Krzysztof Tomasik, author of the book "Gejerel. Mniejszości seksualne w PRL-u" ("Gayerel. Sexual minorities in PRL"), Zboralski was the "gay Wałęsa", "the main force behind Warsaw gay movement".^[11]

Zboralski has been lobbying for the legalization of same-sex marriages in Poland, he was the first person to publish articles on this subject in the Polish press.^[12]

In 2003 he was the first person to become an honorary member of a Polish LGBT organization, Campaign Against Homophobia.^[13] In 2004, as an openly gay candidate of Reason Party, Zboralski was unsuccessful in elections to the European Parliament.^[14][1] In 2005 he was an unsuccessful openly gay candidate of Union of the Left for the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament.^[1]

On 12 October 2007 Zboralski married his partner Krzysztof Nowak in Great Britain as the first Polish gay couple married in that country.^[15][16]

In 2020 he participated in Radio Maryja player for "conversion of as many people as possible from the sin of homosexuality".^[17]

Currently he resides in England working as a registered nurse.^[18]

References

1. "Wybory 2005 (Elections 2005)". Homiki.pl (in Polish). 9 September 2005. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
2. "Conference Pride or Tory Shame?". LGF Manchester. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
3. Johann Hari (4 February 2010). "Interview with David Cameron: "Let's talk about sex: Johann Hari grills David Cameron over gay rights"". The Independent. Retrieved 14 December 2013. ...Poker-faced, Cameron refuses to address the contradiction in his position: he says he wouldn't ally with anti-gay politicians, yet here they are, making blatantly anti-gay statements. Whenever I raise it, he tries to change the subject. All the parties in Poland are equally bad on gay rights, he says. I tell him that's not what the Polish gay equality groups say. The veteran gay activist Waldemar Zboralski says: "The Law and Justice Party is by far the most homophobic party in Poland, and Mr Kaminski is the leading symbol of homophobia in this country. It's very strange for Mr Cameron to deny this; it is indisputable...
4. Kostrzewa, Yga; Minałto, Michał; Pietras, Marcin; Szot, Wojciech; Teodorczyk, Marcin; Tomasik, Krzysztof; Zabłocki, Krzysztof; Pietras, Marcin (2010). QueerWarsaw. Historical and cultural guide to Warsaw. Translated by Urban, Mateusz; et al. Warsaw: Stowarzyszenie Lambda Warszawa. pp. 201–204. ISBN 978-83-926968-1-0. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
5. Sergiusz Wróblewski (1999). "Pytaniami deptano najintymniejszą sferę człowieka". Inaczej (in Polish). Retrieved 14 December 2013.
6. Joanna Gorzelińska (2004). "Różowe teczki". Przekrój (in Polish). Retrieved 14 December 2013.
7. Iwona Zielinska. "Who is afraid of sexual minorities? Homosexuals, moral panic and the exercise of social control" (PDF). shef.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
8. Piotr Gabryel (1988). "Na razie plecami do kamery". Wprost (in Polish). Retrieved 14 December 2013.
9. Jiri Pehe (13 June 1989). "An Annotated Survey of Independent Movements in Eastern Europe". osaarchivum.org. Blinken Open Society Archives. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
10. Jiri Pehe (17 November 1988). "Independent Movements in Eastern Europe, page 18, (RAD BR/228)". osaarchivum.org. Blinken Open Society Archives. Retrieved 14 December 2013. "The Warsaw Homosexual Movement. Founded: Date unknown in Warsaw; has been told unofficially that it will be legalized this year as an independent association. Estimated membership: "A few hundred." Objectives: No aims stated. Leading personalities: Waldemar Zboralski.
11. Amelia Panuszko (23 August 2012). ""Jak się chce być modnym to się choruje na AIDS" (interview with Krzysztof Tomasik)" (in Polish). wprost.pl. Retrieved 14 December 2013. Jeśli chodzi o gejowskiego Wałęsę to była taka postać – nazywał się Waldemar Zboralski. To on był takim spiritus movens warszawskiego ruchu homoseksualistów. To on był pierwszym przewodniczącym i właściwie jako pierwszy zaczął pojawiać się w mediach jako przedstawiciel homoseksualistów. Starał się być wzorem na wzór zachodni. Wtedy też pojawiła się kwestia zachorowań na AIDS, więc Zboralski jako wzór do naśladowania dla innych zrobił sobie test i pokazał go publicznie. Pochodził z małego miasteczka, z rodziny robotniczej i nosił wąsy, więc niejako naturalnie został takim gejowskim Wałęsą.
12. Waldemar Zboralski (1992). "Jak z tym jest u Niemców?". Przegląd Tygodniowy (in Polish). Retrieved 14 December 2013.
13. "Dyplom honorowy" (in Polish). Retrieved 14 December 2013.
14. Michał Iwanowski (30 March 2004). "Głosem mniejszości". Gazeta Lubuska (in Polish). Retrieved 14 December 2013.
15. "Pierwsi polscy geje, którzy wzięli ślub, mieszkają w Anglii". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). 28 March 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
16. Andrew Gilliver (3 July 2009). "Poland's first married couple start action group". PinkPaper.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
17. "Oliwa do ognia: Wladku nie idź tą drogą". Queer.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 23 March 2020.
18. "Nursing & Midwifery Council". nmc-uk.org. Retrieved 14 December 2013.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Waldemar Zboralski.

• "Polish activist speaks out about homophobia in Poland (interview with Zboralski)". lgbt.foundation. 18 July 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
• Andrew Gilliver (29 June 2009). "Poles Apart - It's not easy to be gay in Poland". lgbt.foundation. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
• "Conference Pride or Tory Shame?". lgbt.foundation. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
• Waldemar Zboralski's official webpage (in Polish)