A television presenter with Poland’s state broadcaster has apologised for the years of “shameful words” directed at LGBTQ+ people, in a moment hailed by a prominent rights campaigner as the closing of a chapter in Polish society.
Bart Staszewski, an activist and film-maker, said the apology made to him live on air on Sunday showed the transformation of a broadcaster that served as a mouthpiece for the Law and Justice (PiS) party during its time in power.
“For eight years they showed LGBT activists – but also the LGBT community – as a threat to the Polish nation … feeding this hate to the people,” said Staszewski on Tuesday. “Now the words from the TV studio were of recognition, of apology.”
Moments before the TVP show began on Sunday evening, Staszewski, who had been invited to appear on the broadcaster for the first time in eight years, along with the transgender activist Maja Heban, had hovered nervously outside the studio.
“I was very scared to go through the door,” he said. “This was the door of the propaganda tool that was used against us for so many years.”
During last year’s election campaign, Donald Tusk vowed to swiftly reform the broadcaster as part of a wider overhaul aimed at reversing the damage done to the rule of law during PiS’s years in power.
Days after Tusk was sworn in as prime minister, his government gutted the broadcaster’s top management and ushered in sweeping personnel changes, sparking criticism that the new administration risked recreating its own politicised public television network.
On Sunday night, the programme’s host, Wojciech Szeląg, who joined the channel in January, began the segment by announcing that he needed to say a few words.
Looking directly into the camera, Szeląg said: “For many years in Poland, shameful words have been directed at numerous individuals because they chose to determine for themselves who they are and whom they love.”
In a nod to the prejudice sown by the previous government, he added: “LGBT+ people are not an ideology but people; specific names, faces, relatives and friends.”
As he turned to face the two campaigners, he said: “All these people should hear the word ‘sorry’ somewhere. This is where I apologise.”
Today, first time in Polish TV, after 8 years of right-wing government, the LGBT+ activists appeared in live broadcast. I was seating there and heard journalist shaking voice. He made an apology after years of portraying LGBT-people a threat to Polish nation in the same studio.… pic.twitter.com/kOjzKrRHPf
— Bart Staszewski (@BartStaszewski) February 11, 2024
Staszewski said: “For some people this is nothing, but for me, it’s a lot. After eight years of not being visible, of being some sort of lesser citizen. Both Maja and I were quite astonished by this. It was a touching moment.”
He posted a video of the apology on social media, watching as it swiftly went viral. “Many people on Twitter and Instagram told me it made them cry,” he said. “It was so meaningful and so necessary … now we know that some kind of chapter is closing.”
He described the interaction as a step towards healing as the country worked to rebuild its democracy. In recent months, Staszewski and other rights campaigners have been in consultation with the government on changes such as adding sexual orientation and gender expression to the country’s hate crime legislation and introducing same-sex civil partnerships.
Staszewski, who was singled out by the previous government after he protested against the dozens of municipalities in Poland that had declared themselves to be free of “LGBT ideology”, said he hoped the reckoning with the past would extend to accountability for those who had fuelled prejudices and hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people across the country.
“We can’t just have business as usual,” he said.
He also hoped the LGBTQ+ community would hear another apology, this time from Tusk. “If we heard that, it would tell us that this is a new beginning with leaders who are really devoted to the cause,” he said. “And not just looking at the numbers, the stats and polls.”
