Conservative and right-wing parties have criticised the new left-leaning Polish parliament for electing an ombudsman for children’s rights who advocates the promotion of LGBT ideology in schools. Monika Horna-Cieślak, a 32-year-old lawyer and social activist, was approved by the lower and upper house of parliament last week.
Despite Polish President Andrzej Duda assigning the task of forming a government to Law and Justice (PiS), the former governing party, which also holds the majority of seats in parliament after the October 15 election, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is anticipated to face a vote of no confidence on Monday, December 11th, with the likelihood of losing.
This would pave the way for former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, leader of the centre-right Polish Platform to be elected prime minister for a liberal-leftist coalition government. The new alliance has vowed to replace all PiS-appointed officials in important positions, and the approval of Monika Horna-Cieślak is a sign of where the would-be government’s priorities lie.
During her confirmation hearings, Horna-Cieślak declared that she would support ‘Rainbow Friday,’ an annual event in solidarity with LGBT people held in some schools. By contrast, her conservative predecessor, Mikołaj Pawlak, declared in 2019 that “schools must be free from the ideology that hides behind the tolerance of Rainbow Friday.”
The PiS government has sought to restrict access by sex educators to schools, arguing they want to “sexualise children”. But members of the incoming ruling coalition have pledged to improve sex education, news website Notes From Poland reports.
“It is important to us that children are not subjected to ideological pressure. And it is clear from the candidate’s statements that she is open to ideological pressure,” said PiS MP Mariusz Błaszczak. “The new parliamentary majority begins its rule by supporting left-wing experiments on children,” tweeted MP Michał Wawer of the right-wing Konfederacja party.
“Rainbow Friday” has been a controversial and much-talked-about initiative for the last few years. It is held annually on the last Friday of October and aims to provide emotional support to youngsters who identify as belonging to the LGBT community. This year about one hundred schools took part in the initiative. Previous Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said last year that participating schools have “irresponsible head teachers who don’t look after the right education and upbringing of children.”
Poland’s Roman Catholic Episcopate previously advised that “questions of education and upbringing should be as distant as possible from ideology and politics.”
With regards to the appointment of Monika Horna-Cieślak, conservative Polish think-tank Ordo Iuris stated that organising events such as Rainbow Friday “against the will and knowledge of parents, is a violation of their right to bring up their children in accordance with their own beliefs, which is guaranteed by the provisions of the Constitution.”
