Poland divided over LGBT+ rights — not as bad as it seems?

The referendum on Brexit in the UK and the last US elections highlighted just how divided people can be within the same nation. Poland is the most recent country to show it’s divisions through a democratic vote.

Andrzej Duda, backed by rightwing populist support narrowly defeated his rival Rafał Trzaskowski to become President.

Most notably, there are strong views on both sides on the issue of LGBT+ rights - right wing activists proudly display LGBT+ free stickers in public to signal that LGBT+ people are not welcome.

At first, seeing these clashes may be shocking for those of us who have become so accustomed to the progressive, liberal values that western countries have embraced.

However, the clashes between LGBT+ supporters and the more traditional right wing community can be seen as a positive indicator. It shows that these values that we have in the west are slowly starting to spread east. In countries like Russia, Romania or Turkey, people don’t clash on LGBT+ values as prominently as in Poland but this is not because Poland is especially anti-LGBT+, but precisely because Poland is starting to reach a pivot point where the majority of people are supportive of it.

The elections revealed a strong urban-rural divide indicating that the older generations view LGBT+ rights as suspect — a phenomena that is expected in any country. Time will solve these problems. Simply put, time will kill off the older generations and the younger, more tolerant population will take over the voting power and change Poland.

Death, as tragic and hurtful as it can be, is a great driver of progress.

Side Note

Brain Drain is the effect where a country’s professional, academic and specialist skills are lost to other nations as those highly skilled individuals want to leave for a combination of better pay and more freedom.

After Poland’s accession to the European Union, over two million Poles have emigrated. Is it too much of a leap to assume that the ones that have left are more liberal and open to new ideas thus causing a brain drain not only in terms of skills but also in terms of ideology and political beliefs?

Yes they can vote from abroad but their influence in the media, in society and in everyday conversations is diminished.