Gay couple visit Warsaw in response to use of wedding clip in Kaczynski TV address

POLAND: TWO WEEKS ago, Drogheda-born gay activist Brendan Fay and his partner, Tom Moulton, made an unexpected appearance on Polish national television, writes Derek Scally in Berlin.

The president's broadcast, claiming that the Lisbon Treaty would allow same-sex unions in Poland, backfired spectacularly. The wedding clip, used without the couple's knowledge or permission, has turned the New York residents into Polish celebrities.

Now the couple have returned to Polish television screens during a visit to Warsaw to demand a meeting with Mr Kaczynski to discuss gay rights issues.

"Perhaps he'd like to meet the couple he introduced to the entire nation, to sit down and begin this important dialogue," said Mr Fay at a press conference organised by television channel TVN, which financed the trip.

The visit was a public affair from the start: a jostling media circus was waiting for the couple at Warsaw airport. An energetic appearance on a chat show has prompted lively newspaper editorials - not all of it positive.

"People have stopped us on the street to shake our hands, apologise for what their president said and to disassociate themselves from him completely," Mr Fay said.

Unless he receives an apology, Mr Fay has said he is prepared to launch a civil action against the president. "That's on the table - it's an option when we sit down with lawyers in New York."

In Warsaw, lawyers have already offered to work on the case pro bono.

Mr Kaczynski's views on homosexuality are known: a year ago, he told an Irish audience that if homosexuality was promoted "on a grand scale . . . the human race would disappear".

Mr Kaczynski 's office said yesterday that Mr Fay and his partner would not be received during their visit.

"And I don't think there will be any comments to come either," a spokesman told The Irish Times.

Polish gay rights activists have welcomed the couple's visit as a chance to challenge the homophobia that permeates all levels of Polish society and political discourse.

"This is just what people need," said Marta Abramowicz, vice-president of the Warsaw-based Campaign Against Homophobia.

"I've received many letters from ordinary people who were unhappy with the president's speech.

"Through Tom and Brendan, they can see that gay people are ordinary, decent people and not some nightmare."

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times