Daniel DeMontigny
In this moment of North American post pride, after the euphoria of the celebrations, it would be difficult to understand what happened during the first Pride in Bialystok (Poland) in July. Hundreds of people were reportedly confronted by thousands of counter-protesters, soccer fans, seniors and families included, throwing rotten vegetables, stones and bricks at pro-LGBT protesters. Several dozen people were injured and 77 others were reportedly arrested, according to the New York Times.
In this « woke » or waking age, anti-gay propaganda from populist governments in Europe resembles an ideological rather than a moral war. Poland, like many countries in Europe and North America, is divided more than ever between progressives and conservatives. The progressive LGBT movement, and its dominant rhetoric on social networks and in politics, would now be perceived as a bloc of ideologies that must be countered or appropriated, either to mobilize voters or to show its superior values. » in front of the rest of the world.
The Catholic Church still has a significant hold on the Polish people, and the current Conservative government is blithely using it for its propaganda of fear. Reverend Henryk Grzadko, for example, reportedly told a rally a few months ago that Poland was experiencing a « civilizational invasion » when talking about the LGBT movement. In 2015, the political party Law and Justice won the national election using the same strategy against migrants. In view of the September 2019 national elections, the LGBT movement is being used as a scapegoat in response to the « LGBT agenda » and its grip on the politics of the European Union, Canada and the United States.
More specifically, it is following a declaration by the mayor of Warsaw in the spring of 2019, promoting tolerance and the introduction of a sex education course in schools, which follow the guidelines of the Organization. World Health Organization (WHO), that this propaganda campaign has started. And it is on this point that the heads swing.
It can be easy to demonstrate the relationship between religion, conservatism and homophobia, but this is not the case for China and Russia, because, in practice, these are predominantly atheist and conservative countries. In Russia, Putin clings to this communist ideology that leaders determine the moral agenda. In 2013, the Russian Duma passed a law banning the distribution of homosexual propaganda to minors. In fact, any public event, or militancy of any kind, can result in a fine. The message is that the LGBT movement goes against traditional Russian values. In China, also under the moral dominance of the state, homosexuality has been legal since 1997. LGBT events are repressed, not because they are gay, but because the ability to organize is a threat to the state. In both cases, repression of LGBT rhetoric serves the state to rally its population and control political discourse. In contrast, the state of Israel, in 2010, reportedly launched an expensive advertising campaign to promote Tel Aviv as « an international gay holiday destination, » according to the New York Times. Some gay groups reportedly accused the state of doing « pinkwashing » to cover up human rights abuses in Palestine and give them a modern image that is relevant. And this against his own orthodox Jewish population who is upset.