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While the straight press focuses most of its attention on the death of arch-homophobe Polish President Lech Kaczynski (whom we in GLN picketed when Mayor Daley feted him in Chicago a few years back), people […]
Co-founder of the Chicago Coalition Against War & Racism and the Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net), a Chicago-based LGBT direct action group which has been at the forefront of gay rights, anti-police brutality and anti-war organizing. He’s been one of the lead organizers of most of the city’s large anti-war protests for the last several years, including a march of 15,000 on Lake Shore Drive at the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He’s been arrested numerous times in various protests and was recently found not guilty of two felony counts from a January 2008 protest against a Chicago visit by then-President George W. Bush. In May he was among a handful of Western LGBT activists arrested along with dozens of Russians activists at a government-banned gay pride demonstration in Moscow, Russia. He currently is among the activists organizing a march on the Obama 2012 National Campaign Headquarters in Chicago on the 10th anniversary of America’s longest-ever war, the Afghanistan War. He and other activists are also helping organize the huge protests that will confront the May 2012 NATO/G8 meetings in Chicago.
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Comments
Thank you for posting this Andy. This is indeed a great tragedy and immense loss for our community in Poland (Mme Jaruga-Nowacka was one of the supporters of the draft same sex civil union act that was recently picked up again as a cause for the socialdemocrats). Several other leftist, feminist and pro-gay leaders died on the plane as well (for example MPs Mme Szymanek-Deresz and Mr Szmajdzinski, the latter being the official socialdemocrats’ presidential candidate for the upcoming elections). Thanks to among others Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka we have gone a long way – from a banned “illegal” pride march less than decade ago to Warsaw hosting Europride 2010 this summer.
As for Kaczynski, I wasn’t a fan of his politics but I must say his rhetoric softened in the recent years and he has become more sympathetic. His wife who died with him, while perhaps not an outspoken GLBT activist, has gone on record several times officially taking a different political stance (for example she signed a letter of 100 prominent women from Polish public life supporting artificial insemination, stem cell research and pro-choice legislation).
Thanks for writing in Marcin. I was wanting to hear from our polish readers/listeners. My heart goes out to you and your people. Izabela sounded like a wonderful woman and a rare, courageous politician in any country.
Sorry for the typos in the previous post. I wish I could edit.
What are your typos? I can fix them. (Email us)
Thanks Fausto. Probably the only “big” one is “against” instead of “again” in the fourth line – others are just things I wish I could have said differently as they may be misleading/grammatically incorrect but I think the meaning is there. 🙂
Here is a more robust profile in English for those who wish to learn more about this wonderful woman:
http://word.world-citizenship.org/wp-archive/721
Lukasz Paucki, an LGBT activist with the Social Democratic Party of Poland, provided more context as to why Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka was important to our movement:
“The going-away of Izabela Jaruga Nowacka hurts me the most. I will remember her as a smiling and friendly woman. I will remember “Jaruga” as the real European socialist, who didn’t fear to defend the rights of discriminated groups. I will remember her as a true warrior fighting for the rights of gays and lesbians. Finally, I will remember her as an open person, who never became big-headed. Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka was always open to contact with other people. Even during her tenure as a Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, her doors were open to all non-governmental activists. I could write much more about all things that the brave woman did for gays and lesbians. I could list all awards, handed her by non-governmental organizations. But I prefer to mention a situation that would always be associated with her… ”
“It happened on June 10th, 2005, during the Equality Parade in Warsaw. I was a co-organizer of this illegal (at that time) event. As organizers, we walked on thin ice. We couldn’t even invite people to the Parade, because it was illegal. We were afraid that only few people would come. But when we had gathered near the Sejm (Parliament), we met thousands of people. Among them, there were Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, the Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, and representatives of German left-wing parties, i.e. Claudia Roth, the Head of the Green Party of Germany. Both Ladies were the most important politicians of the Parade. We knew that there is a risk, that the police could simply break up the crowd, but Iza and Claudia strongly supported us. We were also aware that if something had happened to them, a scandal would have broken out in Poland and/or in Germany. However, we were surrounded by the police and we were blocked from the west side by the members of the All-Polish Youth, that throwing stones and eggs towards us. Everything had pointed to the fact that this event was close to the end and the Parade would not take place. Then, the Deputy Prime Minister Jaruga-Nowacka decided to put into force a plan that we called ‘mission impossible’. Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, holding Claudia Roth’s hand (who held Volker Beck’s hand), simply started to march toward members of the All-Polish Youth, that were throwing stones. Everything happened very quickly. I could only hear, as one officer of the Government Security Office shouted into a mobile phone: “The Prime Minister is in danger! Move on!”. Within a minute the police and officers of the GSO tore apart a group of the All-Polish Youth (neonazists) into two parts, that blazed a trail for the Parade. Finally we reached the Palace of Culture and Science in the city center. ”
“If there hadn’t been Jaruga Nowacka and her courage the Equality Parade would not have taken place in 2005. I would like people to remember this brave, left-wing politician and feminist, a great and reliable friend of lesbians and gays. “