In Poland there’s a place for all of us
Donation protected
W Polsce jest miejsce dla nas wszystkich / In Poland there’s a place for all of us
This initiative supports local LGBT+ organisations in Eastern Poland and along the border of Germany and Poland. Our first project is in aid of Prowincja Równości, seen in the image above at the first Kielce Pride in 2019.
Earlier this year, a queer visibility campaign in the city of Bialystok was met with a retaliatory response that saw:
• interest groups fund vicious and homophobic billboards towards the LGBT+ community
• the assault and imprisonment of an LGBT+ activist named Margot of the Stop Bzdurom collective
• LGBT+ organisation Prowincja Równości lose their bid for funding
This is not a stand-alone incident with LGBT+ communities in towns and cities across Poland facing the brunt of a coordinated campaign against LGBT+ people. This includes the now infamous “LGBT-Free Zones” and the scapegoating of the LGBT+ community by politicians for political gain - accompanied in some cases by state violence.
If you would like to donate in Euros, you can visit the page (PL/EN) setup by our friends at the Polnischer Sozialrat which will go to the same cause: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kielce-bilbordy-pelne-milosci-do-blizniego
What we’re funding for
Starting with Prowincja Równości, we need you to help us raise 250€ / £225 to fund their billboard campaign with a conciliatory message that promotes that “In Poland there’s a place for all of us”.
Who is involved?
All funding priorities are led by organisations on the ground and all funds raised will go towards LGBT+ organisations in Poland as outlined (excluding fees for the use of the GoFundMe platform). The initiative is run by Berlin-based members of the UK Labour Party and the Polish political party Razem (‘Together’) backed by the Polnischer Sozialrat (Polish Social Council) from Berlin and Labour International CLP of the UK Labour Party. Funding has also been provided by the Maliniak Fund.
Tomasz of Prowincja Równości
Until March 2015, there had been no real grassroots LGBTQ initiative in Kielce, a city of roughly 190,000 people, the capital of a small province in historically conservative Eastern Poland.
Prowincja Równości (in English, ‘the Equality Province’) came into being, as the future founders were taking part in the annual Cracow Pride Parade (or “Equality March” as we call them in Poland). We wanted to create a safe haven for local LGBTQ people, give them a place where they could feel that they were not alone, that they belong.
With time, we mustered the courage to organise our own, very first, equality march in Kielce, which took place in 2019.
This year, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted our plan to repeat, or maybe even surpass, the success of the previous year, but we are not going to remain silent, especially when our government is using all its apparatus to scapegoat and dehumanise the LGBTQ community and to undo all the progress that has been achieved by numerous organisations in the past decades.
The aim of our billboard action is to give courage to all the members of our community who feel discouraged by the aggression of the state and Church propaganda.
Franek of the Polnischer Sozialrat
Attending a Polish-Berlinois festival in Garbicz together with a five-people-strong, bilingual bar team and half a hundred volunteers, Jule came up with the idea of putting some of the money towards an LGBT-cause in Poland – it was not long after the violence at the first Pride in Bialystok.
I looked for queer organisations in my hometown, Kielce, and that’s how I found Prowincja Równości. I wrote to them a brief explanation about what we’re trying to do and Artur answered twenty minutes later: “OMG, no way!”
Prowincja Rownosci came up with the idea of putting the money towards a billboard campaign, following examples in other towns and cities, to make the LGBT+ community more visible and promote positive community relations. The Berlin-Barchefs liked the idea, and following an initial donation I met up with the team in Kielce to broaden the scope of the project.
Meanwhile the situation for the LGBT+ in Poland became much more serious with the arrest of Margot and increased levels of dehumanising language and physical violence. It’s from that point that this initiative sprung up, and we began to reach out to partner organisations that could help us raise the funds necessary for Prowincja Równości and other LGBT+ organisations.
This initiative supports local LGBT+ organisations in Eastern Poland and along the border of Germany and Poland. Our first project is in aid of Prowincja Równości, seen in the image above at the first Kielce Pride in 2019.
Earlier this year, a queer visibility campaign in the city of Bialystok was met with a retaliatory response that saw:
• interest groups fund vicious and homophobic billboards towards the LGBT+ community
• the assault and imprisonment of an LGBT+ activist named Margot of the Stop Bzdurom collective
• LGBT+ organisation Prowincja Równości lose their bid for funding
This is not a stand-alone incident with LGBT+ communities in towns and cities across Poland facing the brunt of a coordinated campaign against LGBT+ people. This includes the now infamous “LGBT-Free Zones” and the scapegoating of the LGBT+ community by politicians for political gain - accompanied in some cases by state violence.
If you would like to donate in Euros, you can visit the page (PL/EN) setup by our friends at the Polnischer Sozialrat which will go to the same cause: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kielce-bilbordy-pelne-milosci-do-blizniego
What we’re funding for
Starting with Prowincja Równości, we need you to help us raise 250€ / £225 to fund their billboard campaign with a conciliatory message that promotes that “In Poland there’s a place for all of us”.
Who is involved?
All funding priorities are led by organisations on the ground and all funds raised will go towards LGBT+ organisations in Poland as outlined (excluding fees for the use of the GoFundMe platform). The initiative is run by Berlin-based members of the UK Labour Party and the Polish political party Razem (‘Together’) backed by the Polnischer Sozialrat (Polish Social Council) from Berlin and Labour International CLP of the UK Labour Party. Funding has also been provided by the Maliniak Fund.
Tomasz of Prowincja Równości
Until March 2015, there had been no real grassroots LGBTQ initiative in Kielce, a city of roughly 190,000 people, the capital of a small province in historically conservative Eastern Poland.
Prowincja Równości (in English, ‘the Equality Province’) came into being, as the future founders were taking part in the annual Cracow Pride Parade (or “Equality March” as we call them in Poland). We wanted to create a safe haven for local LGBTQ people, give them a place where they could feel that they were not alone, that they belong.
With time, we mustered the courage to organise our own, very first, equality march in Kielce, which took place in 2019.
This year, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted our plan to repeat, or maybe even surpass, the success of the previous year, but we are not going to remain silent, especially when our government is using all its apparatus to scapegoat and dehumanise the LGBTQ community and to undo all the progress that has been achieved by numerous organisations in the past decades.
The aim of our billboard action is to give courage to all the members of our community who feel discouraged by the aggression of the state and Church propaganda.
Franek of the Polnischer Sozialrat
Attending a Polish-Berlinois festival in Garbicz together with a five-people-strong, bilingual bar team and half a hundred volunteers, Jule came up with the idea of putting some of the money towards an LGBT-cause in Poland – it was not long after the violence at the first Pride in Bialystok.
I looked for queer organisations in my hometown, Kielce, and that’s how I found Prowincja Równości. I wrote to them a brief explanation about what we’re trying to do and Artur answered twenty minutes later: “OMG, no way!”
Prowincja Rownosci came up with the idea of putting the money towards a billboard campaign, following examples in other towns and cities, to make the LGBT+ community more visible and promote positive community relations. The Berlin-Barchefs liked the idea, and following an initial donation I met up with the team in Kielce to broaden the scope of the project.
Meanwhile the situation for the LGBT+ in Poland became much more serious with the arrest of Margot and increased levels of dehumanising language and physical violence. It’s from that point that this initiative sprung up, and we began to reach out to partner organisations that could help us raise the funds necessary for Prowincja Równości and other LGBT+ organisations.
Fundraising team (3)
Mark Whiley
Organizer
Raised £110 from 4 donations
Jade MacEwan
Team member
Raised £30 from 2 donations
Pawel Jankiewicz
Team member
