While surveying the landscape for inroads to push the homosexual agenda into Poland, American embassy officials under the Obama administration complained that the Catholic Church teaching is a major source of “homophobia” in the heavily Catholic country, according to private cables recently published by Wikileaks.
The cables from the American embassy in Warsaw, marked “sensitive but unclassified,” were part of a dump of over 250,000 official government documents last week by Wikileaks.
One cable from the American embassy in Warsaw dated August 2009 pointed to the Catholic Church as central in promoting “homophobia” in the former Soviet-controlled country.
“The Catholic Church plays a significant role in the formation and propagation of anti-gay attitudes in Polish society, especially in rural areas,” states the communiqué entitled “Gay rights in Poland: long road ahead.”
Officials did note that “the Polish Episcopate has condemned violence and discrimination against gays and lesbians,” but said that message is ignored by local priests teaching that sexual attraction to the same gender is “a deviant condition.”
“Moreover, the Church continues to label homosexual acts as sins and calls on homosexuals to practice abstinence. Most Polish opponents of gay rights cite ‘Catholic values’ and ‘natural law’ to support their views,” the cable continues.
While largely ignored, the issue of the homosexual agenda has come onto the radar of more conservative Polish statesmen: officials note that some lawmakers are readying defenses against acceptance of homosexuality in schools by drafting legislation similar to a law in Lithuania that bans favorable depictions of homosexuality.
Despite cultural and political hurdles, the American embassy appeared optimistic that the gay rights movement would eventually take hold in Poland.
The cable concludes that acceptance of homosexuality has “a long way to go” in Poland. However, it also says the situation is “gradually improving,” pointing especially to the effects of the Catholic country’s deepening economic dependence on more progressive parts of the continent.
“As Poles’ social and economic ties to Western Europe deepen, we expect homophobia will continue to decline, as well,” it states.
Another cable notes that Poland “has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe” despite pressure from the United Nations to soften its legal barrier to abortion and contraception. The communiqué names Anand Grover, United Nations special envoy on health issues, as the official who chastised Poland for its pro-life laws.
Last Wednesday, the Polish parliament narrowly voted down a total ban on all abortions despite an immense surge of support from the Polish people for the ban.
