Safely Visible: An Investigation Into Polish Queer Space

Safely Visible

An Investigation Into Polish Queer Space

By: Lucjan Rostkowski-Covington

September 23rd, 2022

Given that the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Europe) ranked Poland last in the European Union for LGBTQ+ rights and protections in 2020, 2021, and 2022, the existence of queer spaces in Poland are more important than ever before. The reality, however, is that queer spaces are transient for a multitude of reasons so it’s imperative to document them while they still exist.

In this research project, I first conduct a survey to ask Polish LGBTQ+ people how they define a safe queer space. Next, I conduct a full case study of 6 participatory queer community incubator spaces in Warsaw, Poland followed by a mini study of queer spaces in Poznan, Poland and one important outdoor event, the Warsaw Equality Parade. The 6 full cases are compared by using variables that include exterior safety, interior safety, location, programs, public vs. private space, people, decor, circulation, and violence experienced.

The findings of the survey show that Poles feel as though a safe queer space is one where their pronouns and gender identity are respected, they can feel free to be themselves, they know that LGBTQ+ people frequent these spaces, there are events geared toward LGBTQ+ people, and it’s visibly queer with emblems such as flags and stickers. Individuals also expressed where they felt safest being themselves, whether it’s with friends, in their own home, or at their favorite bubble tea shop. The case study findings show that prohibiting alcohol consumption, thinking through physical safety measures if necessary, asking for people’s pronouns, employees and customers looking out for each other to make sure the people attending events are acting in a respectful manner, and all employees, including bouncers, having had LGBTQ+ diversity training creates a safe queer space.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Terminology

Introduction

Context:

Recent History

The Rise of PiS (Law & Justice Party)

“LGBT Free Zones”

2019 Presidential Election Campaign

2019 Białystok Equality March

Rainbow Night (Polish Stonewall)

Interview with activist Maja Heban

Survey:

Survey Methodology

Survey Analysis

Case Studies:

Case Study Methodology

Lambda Warszawa

Inclsv (Inclusive.buzz)

Klub Pogłos

Młodsza Siostra

Margines Barber

ADA Puławska

Warsaw Equality Parade

Poznań, Poland

Conclusions

References

Acknowledgments

Iwould like to start off by expressing thanks to my sponsors for which this project would not have been possible without, namely, the Copernicus Center for Polish Studies and the International Institute, both at the University of Michigan.

Thank you to Professor Sharon Haar and Professor Ian Donaldson for helping me with the application process for these grants.

Thank you to Professor George Schafer for sparking my interest in this research topic.

Many thanks to my research advisor, Sarian Jarosz of Amnesty International Poland, for guiding me along this journey.

I would like to extend huge gratitude to everyone who took part in the survey associated with this report. Thank you to Maja Heban and Fundusz Feministyczny for promoting my survey. Thank you to all the Facebook groups that allowed me to join and promote my survey. Thank you to Anna Roszman for translating my survey into Polish.

Thank you to all the people who took part in interviews for my case study and this report, namely Maja Heban, Miłosz Przepiórkowski, Ulla Prussak, Marta Zadykowicz, Karol Czerniakiewicz, Michał Grochowiak, Tim Valther, Wanya and the entire ADA Puławska collective.

Thank you to Professor Shelley Manis and Professor Angela Berkley for proofreading this report.

Terminology

Definition

The acronym LGBTQ+ describes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.[1] Additionally, the letter Q can also be used in certain settings to represent a person who is questioning their sexuality or gender identity.[2]

Once considered a derogatory word, the word queer has been reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community.[3] It is an umbrella term that encompasses all LGBTQ+ identities.[4] Queer be used interchangeably with the acronym LGBTQ+ in this report.

Transgender, or trans individuals' gender identity differs from their physical sex assigned at birth.[5] A person who's transgender can express their gender identity in several different ways, such as with dress or behavior. Some take hormones and may undergo surgery as part of a gender-affirming process, while others may not feel the need to. It's important to note that trans people don't have to identify with the gender binary.

Cisgender is a term used to describe a person’s gender identity as being one that corresponds to the sex assigned to them at birth.[6]

Nonbinary is a term used to describe people who "experience their gender identity and/or gender expression as falling outside of the binary categories of man and woman".[7][8] Nonbinary individuals identify with gender, just not with the traditional binary.

Genderqueer is an inclusive term that encompasses nonbinary, agender, and gender fluid identities among others. Genderqueer can also refer to someone who identifies as being male or female.[9]

Gender fluid describes a person whose gender identity can shift over time–their gender identity is based on what they identify with in the present.[10]

An agender person is one who doesn’t identify with gender in any way.[11]

The term Intersex refers to someone who is born with reproductive and sexual anatomy that differs from the traditional binary of male and female.[12] This anatomic difference may include genital, gonadal, chromosomal, or hormonal characteristics.

Gender nonconforming is an umbrella term for individuals who don’t follow gender norms with their expression.[13] A person who's gender nonconforming is not necessarily nonbinary, and cisgender individuals can also identify as gender nonconforming.

An LGBTQ+ ally is a person who is "cisgender and/or straight who supports and advocates for LGBTQ+ people."[14]

HRT is hormone therapy taken by trans people to help with either feminizing or masculinizing themselves.[15][16]

Introduction

In August 2020, 48 queer activists were arrested at or after a peaceful demonstration in Warsaw.[1] Two months earlier, Polish President Andrzej Duda compared LGBTQ+ “ideology” to communism.[2] It’s clear why the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Europe) ranked Poland last in the European Union for LGBTQ+ rights and protections in 2020, 2021, and 2022[3]. It’s easy to get sucked into a vortex of disparity when discussing the state of LGBTQ+ Polish people. Polish leadership has undeniably created hostile environments, for example, with "LGBT Free Zones,"[4] but in no way have they been able to put out the fire that queer people have to create vibrant spaces to exist in. Let’s take some time to celebrate the amazing organizations, public spaces, people, and movements that are creating a safer environment for queer people to exist in Poland every day. The point of this research project is to uplift and promote queer and queer allied spaces in Warsaw in which the owners and employees of the selected spaces genuinely care about creating a safe, inclusive, and participatory environment for all people to frequent. While some of the selected spaces are well known and have been around for 20+ years, some of them recently opened in a new wave of post-pandemic opportunity.

Given the state of LGBTQ+ issues across Poland, the existence of queer spaces of social infrastructure are more important than ever before. People seek out queer spaces when they feel as though they are not able to express themselves authentically due to fear of being ostracized or worse.[5] These spaces are "life-giving, and often lifesaving."[6] They give people the opportunity to create community by way of events, concerts, performance, food, and friends.

However, queer public spaces are transient like many public spaces and that’s why it’s imperative to document them why they’re still here. Many political, social, or economic situations can cause the erasure of queer spaces. Let’s take Russia for example, a country that criminalized the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations” 2013. [7] This law led to the forced closure of the largest Russian LGBTQ+ rights organization, Sphere Foundation, in September 2022.[8] Or even in Poland, a popular and well respected queer allied establishment called Klub Pogłos will have to close its doors in just a couple weeks after this report is set to be published due to a developer driven apartment tower taking over its space. Due to the lack of affordable available space in Warsaw, it’s unclear at this time if, when, or where Klub Pogłos will be able to reopen.

The good news is that almost any space can become a queer space. In this way, queer people have agency to reclaim spaces that are theirs. Some spaces are more casual and more quickly established than others. One of these D.I.Y. spaces that comes to mind was a former private tenement house in downtown Warsaw that was abandoned and later turned into an autonomous cultural center for LGBTQ+ people called Syrena. Syrena itself was an act of protest, to establish a public cultural center in a building that was previously privatized by developers. Unfortunately, queer people stopping living there in December 2021, but this just once again underscores the need to document these types of spaces while they are still in existence.[9]

Queer in this report will be used to denote a “destabilization of the norm”[10]–a “cosmopolitan canopy”[11]–a place where people of varying backgrounds come together with acceptance regardless of whether or not they fully understand each other.[12] I’m using the word queer not only to denote the LGBTQ+ community but also to highlight public spaces that practice “difference without exclusion”[13]. The goal is to create spaces that are integrated into Polish society, spaces that are safely visible, so that they may start to draw in the general Polish public and move the needle forward about LGBTQ+ discourse in Poland. In this research project, I conduct mixed methods research such as a case study and a survey to find out the types of adaptations necessary for a person to feel safe in a queer space in Poland.

I hope this report will act as a "spur to further investigate the spaces shown"[14], to motivate public space owners, employees, and customers to foster more diverse and participatory environments, and for queer people to take initiative in creating their own events and spaces to fill voids they see in their local communities.

Context

In this chapter, important moments in queer Polish history will be presented. I want to stress that some of the events do contain violence, but without their acknowledgment, we won’t be able to understand a holistic picture of the situation of LGBTQ+ people in Poland. After the history, I’ve included an in-depth interview I did with Warsaw-based trans activist Maja Heban back in August 2020. This interview will provide more detail into the social, political, and religious structures that have put Poland at the last place in the European Union for rights and protections for LGBTQ+ people, according to ILGA Europe's ranking, three years in a row.[1] In addition to reading this chapter, I strongly advise looking up the timeline of LGBTQ+ hate in Poland from 2018 to 2021[2], published by ILGA Europe, which succinctly summarizes all of the events mentioned.

Recent History

Systemic oppression has subjugated queer people in Poland for decades– "which has often been implemented under the guise of protecting so-called traditional values.”[3] While there are little to no protections or rights for LGBTQ+ people in Poland, it's possible for a transgender individual to legally change the sex and name recorded on their birth certificate to reflect their transition.[4] Following the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1932, "communist authorities of the post-war period in Poland consistently treated homosexuality as a social pathology."[5]

The Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs spearheaded a secret mass operation in order to create a "national database of all homosexuals"[6] living in Poland.[7] This is famously known as Operation Hyacinth, which took place between 1985 and 1987.[8] Around 11,000 people were registered and communist police called it a measure to "counteract sex work and homosexual criminal gangs."[9] In reality, it was a method of developing compromising evidence to blackmail a large number of individuals so they would stay compliant with the communist government.[10] The files are now known as the “Pink Files.”[11] Due to the operation, many gay individuals felt the need to go even further underground to cover up their identity.[12] The data that was gathered, stayed in their database, and was never erased–even after Campaign Against Homophobia asked for them to be destroyed in 2004.[13]

New hope for potential human rights protections in Poland increased with the fall of communism in 1989 and EU accession in 2004.[14] Upon EU accession, Poland became the only EU member alongside former EU member, The United Kingdom, to opt out of the Fundamental Rights Charter.[15]

It’s important to note that the Catholic Church holds a lot of power in Poland; over 33 million of 38 million total Poles are registered Catholics.[16] Politics are often discussed during mass and priests talk in favor of the conservative ruling party, PiS (Law and Justice Party).[17] According to ILGA Europe, Poland was ranked last in the European Union in 2020, 2021, and 2022 for LGBTQ+ rights and protections.[18]

The Rise of PiS (The Law & Justice Party)

The Law and Justice Party (PiS) was founded in 2001 by former President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and his brother Jarosław Kaczyński.[19] The party garnered a lot of power in 2015 when it won the 2015 Polish parliamentary elections with an outright majority, "the first time that a single group will command a majority since Poland returned to democracy in 1989."[20] Since 2015, the party has systemically inhibited human rights and democracy in Poland by endangering the rule of law, "bringing NGOs and commercial media to heel through restrictive regulatory measures, and limiting citizens’ freedoms of speech and assembly" among many other things.[21] The party has been deemed authoritarian while undertaking a “constitutional breakdown” noted by scholars.[22] LGBTQ+ media, organizations, and activists have also been met with extreme hostility.[23] During a 2018 campaign rally for example, Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of PiS, stated: “no homosexual marriages will be allowed in Poland...Europe has to sober up” with regards to LGBTQ+ rights.[24] 3 years later, he continued his hate campaign on national TV when asserting that "homosexuality is an ideology that dominates the world today and radically limits the freedom of those who are terrorized to accept it”.[25]

“LGBT Free Zones”

Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski signed a declaration to support LGBTQ+ equality in February 2019.[26] This declaration included adhering to World Health Organization guidelines in which LGBT issues are allowed to be discussed in Warsaw educational facilities. This declaration "enraged and galvanized the powerful forces of conservatism in Polish politics and media."[27] In retaliation, “LGBT Free Zones” were initiated in counties, municipalities, and provinces primarily in Southeastern Poland.[28] It’s important to note that there are no legal ramifications to the existence of “LGBT Free Zones,” they are merely symbolic acts by local authorities to try and prevent “LGBT Ideology” from existing in their areas.[29] They have, however, created hostile environments for LGBTQ+ people to exist in a country that has no protections for hate crimes and hate speech against queer people.[30] One city in Southeastern Poland, Lublin, went so far as to organize a “safety walk” to expose and purge queer people in August 2020.[31] Since Poland opted out of the EU Fundamental Rights Charter, there is not much the EU can do to combat queerphobia in Poland. The EU has however, threatened to stop funding counties, municipalities, and provinces if the “LGBT Free Zones” weren’t ceased.[32] In September 2021, 4 provinces withdrew their status due to EU pressure.[33] Unfortunately, the Polish government agreed to provide funding to those places that lost their funding from the EU.[34]

Above is the “Atlas of Hate,” which is a comprehensive map created by Polish queer activists that shows all “LGBT Free Zones” across Poland. The red zones are in existence today, the yellow ones are currently in litigation, and the green ones were recently thrown out.

Above is an “LGBT Free Zone” sign placed below the city limit sign in Świdnik, Poland. This was a project created by Warsaw LGBTQ+ activist Bart Staszewski, who created and mounted these signs in many towns and regions in Poland that declared themselves an “LGBT Free Zone.” This project was an attempt to bring national and international attention to the rise of the “LGBT Free Zones” in Poland, and it did just that.

On the left is a photo that Narodowy Lublin, a nationalist group, posted on their Facebook page in August 2020. Under the post, they organized a “safety walk” through the city with a caption that reads “The more people, the better. We will show everyone that our streets are for tradition and not for freaks.”

The poster reads, “Lublin, A City Without Freaks.” The poster shows two rainbow painted fists in handcuffs. This was a clear message to all queer people in Lublin that they aren’t welcome in their own city.

2019 Presidential Election Campaign

The 2019 Polish presidential election campaign was a hostile one that saw the fate of LGBTQ+ people in Poland scapegoated for the purpose of winning a re-election.[35] Incumbent President Andrzej Duda’s hateful rhetoric on the campaign trail created an environment for violence to occur towards queer people. In 2019, stones were thrown at Białystok Equality Marchers and a homemade bomb was brought to an Equality March in Lublin.

[36] In February 2022, alleged leaked emails from Michał Dworczyk, the Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Ministers Council, revealed that during the 2019 presidential campaign, "there had been an organized and direct cooperation between the authorities and some media outlets in advocating hatred" towards queer people.

[37] In June 2020, The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) released a Special Election Assessment stating that TVP, the largest public national Polish news station, "failed to ensure balanced and impartial coverage, and rather served as a campaign tool for the incumbent."[38] ODIHR's report also stated that "the campaign was characterized by negative and intolerant rhetoric further polarizing an already adversarial political environment." [39] Even with the state media in his pocket, Andrzej Duda narrowly won re-election against the opposition candidate, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski.

TRI-CITIES

To the left is a map showing the outcome of the 2020 Polish presidential election by county. The brown colors denote a more centrist vote towards candidate Rafał Trzaskowski; the purple colors denote a more conservative vote towards Andrzej Duda and the Law and Justice Party. You can see that Poland is split with its western part being more progressive and its eastern and southeastern parts being a lot more conservative. Note that Poznań appears to have one of the strongest concentrations of progressive leaning votes in the entire country. You can see a correlation between the location of “LGBT Free Zones” and the way Poles voted in the 2020 election.

(Andrzej

Duda equated LGBTQ+ rights to a destructive western ideology and went as far as to say it was a form of communism.[42] These statements caused an uproar in media all around the world from the LA Times to the Guardian.

“They’re trying to tell us that they’re people. And it’s an ideology…an ideology that is even more destructive to human beings, an ideology that beneath the platitudes of respect and tolerance hides a deep intolerance and elimination, the exclusion of all those who do not want to submit to it.”[40][41]

Duda, August 2020)

2019 Białystok Equality March

Białystok is the 10th largest city in Poland and is located in the Northeastern part of the country.[43] The area encompassing it, the Podlaskie Voivodeship, is a conservative stronghold of PiS.[44] Białystok county was declared an “LGBT Free Zone” in 2019.[45] The anti-LGBTQ+ vitriol from President of Poland Andrzej Duda, the state run media, and the Catholic Church, created an environment for the first pride march in Bialystok in 2019 to turn violent in unprecedented ways. ”Leaflets anonymously placed around the city ahead of the march said that streets would be contaminated with LGBT bacteria,” and “LGBT Free Zone” stickers were created by pro-PiS newspaper, Gazeta Polska.[46] The march was held on July 20th, 2019 with approximately 1000 pride marchers in attendance.[47] The march turned violent when about 4000 counter demonstrators showed up and threw stones, bottles and firecrackers at pride marchers.[48] Amnesty International Poland proved that Białystok police had failed to protect marchers which resulted in several injuries and 2 assaults, 1 of which was a minor who was trampled by counter-demonstrators.[49]

United States news media such as the New York Times, equated the 2019 Białystok Equality March with the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.[50] Since there are no hate crime and hate speech protection mechanisms for LGBTQ+ people in Poland, "law enforcement agencies are not effectively identifying and prosecuting those responsible."[51]

The image on the left shows the moment that 4000 counter demonstrators showed up and overpowered police officers who were there to protect equality marchers from being attacked.

The image on the left is of the “LGBT Free Zone” stickers that Gazeta Polska printed and handed out on July 17th, 3 days before the Białystok Equality March.

“Rainbow Night” (Polish Stonewall)

“Rainbow Night” was an event that took place on August 7th, 2020. It started out as a peaceful march due to the arrest of Polish nonbinary activist Margot Szutowicz.[52] It's important to note that Margot uses she/her pronouns. Margot was arrested for slashing the tires of a truck with homophobic slogans on it, called a homophobus, that was driving through Warsaw.[53] Police showed up and used an immense amount of force to arrest and disperse protesters.[54] 48 people were arrested, including some bystanders.[55] Those arrested were taken into custody without being told why they were arrested, were not allowed legal counsel, and were not permitted to speak to relatives.[56] Many refer to this night as being the “Polish Stonewall”.[57] In April 2022, 41 of the protesters' cases were dropped; however, these cases could be reopened if new evidence were to come forward.[58]

The map below is courtesy of Amnesty International Poland, who pieced the events of “Rainbow Night” back together by interviewing dozens of people who were there. Margot was at Campaign Against Homophobia’s office where she was expected to be arrested.[59] Police officers refused to arrest her, so protesters moved from the CAH office to Nowy Swiat Street, in front of the Copernicus Monument.[60] This is where police showed up again and arrested Margot.[61] Some protesters tried to block the police car from leaving with her by getting on top of the hood of the car.[62] Protesters were then arrested and taken to several police precincts all over the city of Warsaw.[63]

Maja Heban is a prominent trans activist based in Warsaw, Poland. In just a few short years, she has amassed a social media following of more than 30,000 people, due to her openly expressing her views. She is currently writing a book about her experiences of being trans in Poland; the book will be released in 2023. My interview with her took place in August 2020, but I thought it was important to include it in this report, since many of the previous events mentioned in the context chapter are discussed here in further detail. I want to stress that this interview occurred during one of the darkest points for queer people in Poland–during the height of government hate speech–and right after several traumatic events transpired, such as Rainbow Night. I believe this interview will provide more context into the situation of LGBTQ+ people in Poland, and the structures that cause it to be so toxic.

Interview with Maja Heban:

Q: Tell me about your journey of coming into activism and being a trans woman?

A: The activism is quite recent–it’s the one good thing for me that has come out of the current climate of hatred toward queer people in Poland. I transitioned about 10 years ago when I was living in the closet. For years, people didn’t even know I was trans, and I had to refrain from revealing my identity in certain situations. I finally started to speak out about my experience of being a trans woman, and I started to accept myself a lot more for who I am. As the situation of queer people in Poland kept getting worse, I decided that I had a moral obligation to stand up for what’s right.

Q: Would it be easier or harder to transition now rather than when you did 10 years ago?

A: I think it would be harder now, especially socially. Legally, nothing has changed. In Poland, if you want to change your name, you can, but you have to sue your parents. It’s an embarrassing, expensive, and long process. Also, if you’re married and you transition, you have to divorce your spouse, since you would now technically be in a same-sex relationship–which is not recognized in Poland. Some people end up deciding to stay married, and forgo legally transitioning; I know such a case.

Q: How has it been living in Poland as of late, have you experienced any violence?

A: None as of late. I think this has to do with the fact that I transitioned many years ago. The general public doesn’t have any reason to harass me, because they don’t perceive me as being trans. I do get the occasional death threat when I tweet something that goes viral.

Q: As you become a more and more well known activist in Poland, are you worried about potentially getting more hate?

A: It’s a concern that I have as well as my family has. It’s just something that I accept. If something happens to me, then at least I was able to help. Violence towards queer people in Poland is typically psychological or physical in the form of assault. We don’t really see knife or gun violence here.

Q: What do you think was the turning point for hatred towards LGBTQ+ people in Poland?

A: At the end of 2018, there was this action called Tęczowy Piątek, or Rainbow Friday. It was organized by one of the most prominent queer organizations in Poland, [Campaign Against Homophobia]. The action was centered on schools where every Friday there was a show of solidarity, showing children that it’s OK to be queer. Even though the action started in 2016, the ruling party picked up on it in late 2018, blowing it way out of proportion. This was the first time I really noticed a mass hate campaign towards queer people coming from the ruling party. The Ministry of Education even visited schools to make sure Rainbow Fridays would stop taking place.

The second thing that angered the ruling party and Polish conservatives was the declaration of LGBT rights that the Mayor of Warsaw signed in 2019. The part of the declaration that angered people the most was the approval of teaching sexual education to the World Health Organization standards in schools, which they misconstrued as promotion of pedophilia and the sexualization of children. They managed to convince a lot of people that teaching inclusive sexual education is harmful and destructive for children. The hate campaign against queer people never really stopped after this. I’m surprised that the World Health Organization never made a statement about this because the ruling party was basically equating their practices with pedophilia.

I also want to underscore that the current government dismantled the public media; it’s a propaganda mouthpiece for them. We are talking about TV, radio, and press. This is most highly affecting older people who aren’t versed digitally and only listen to state run media. Young people are more used to sorting through information to get to the facts, while older people are more vulnerable and willing to believe things that aren’t true.

Q: Do you think that the ruling party is using queer people as a scapegoat, and as a tool to hide the “constitutional breakdown” they’ve undertaken?

A: Yes. A scapegoat always brings people together. Every time there’s an election in Poland, some minority group is targeted. A couple of elections back, it was migrants, and now it’s LGBTQ+ people.

Q: I often think of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights as happening in phases. I believe Poland is still in the first phase; when do you think it will move into the next phase?

A: We are still trying to convince people that we are humans. Polish President, Andrzej Duda, said that we are not people, we are an ideology. This is the phase we are in.

I also want to underscore another important point, and that’s that there is no legal recognition for hate speech or hate crimes in Poland. This is why you can see trucks driving around Warsaw spreading the message that we are pedophiles and rapists without any consequences.

Margot is a nonbinary activist who was arrested for 2 months for partially destroying one of these hate speech trucks in Warsaw. For years, these trucks have been driving through cities and spreading dehumanizing, pre-war, antisemitic, propaganda–stuff you would see in some countries turn to genocide.

Q: How powerful is the Catholic Church in Poland?

A: The Catholic Church is everywhere. There is Radio Maria, which is a large Catholic radio station in Poland. The owner is a very wealthy priest living in luxury like many of them. He owns a TV station and a phone company. He is extremely influential in Poland, very popular among the elderly. Politicians from the ruling party are there constantly as guests on the radio and TV. The church tells people who to vote for and comments on various political and social events. There’s an alliance between the church and politicians, they work together. Priests are actively taking part in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric; one of the bishops even called us the “rainbow plague.”

We constantly hear about sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church in Poland, but we have not had our day of reckoning like Ireland has for example. I think the Catholic Church is using harsh queer rhetoric as a distraction in order to cover up these abuses. There are so many priests in Poland that there still isn’t comprehensive information on the extent of their involvement in sex abuse scandals. With bishops and archbishops, there are many in Poland that have been exposed for enabling pedophilia–even a list of them was delivered to Pope Francis, but nothing ended up happening to them.

A documentary was released in May 2019 that exposed a lot of sex abuse within the Polish Catholic Church. Right after the documentary’s release, the Polish government created a parliamentary commission to investigate sex abuse. It’s been a year since the commission was created and there’s been absolutely no action and no movement from the commission. The media claimed that it actually wasn’t priests who were mostly in jail for sex abuse, it was carpenters and painters.

Late Polish Pope John Paul II wasn’t the most active at trying to dismantle sex abuse in the church either; he was also very outspoken against LGBTQ+ people. Since he was such a beloved figure in Poland, his message still resonates with people to this day that LGBTQ+ people are some sort of dangerous ideology. Religion is also being taught in public schools, and it’s the 5th most taught subject in schools, behind Math, Polish, and English.

There was a pride flag that was placed on a statue of Jesus in Warsaw recently, but the flag was immediately removed by police. The Prime Minister of Poland came and placed a candle under the statue the next day.

I find it so ironic that priests speak out about how dangerous LGBTQ+ people are to children, but when it comes to pedophilia in their own church–they remain silent.

This is the level to which Catholicism permeates throughout Poland–you feel the need to apologize to a statue because a pride flag was placed on it.

With all this said, I’m hoping for a peaceful transformation of the church. I see pictures from other European countries with churches that fly pride flags. I think it’s wonderful, and I hope to see that one day in Poland.

Q: Why doesn’t the EU take stronger action to prevent such a terrible climate for queer people in Poland, for example, with the development of “LGBT Free Zones?”

A: This is something I’m struggling to understand. I feel left out and abandoned by the EU. Every now and then, the EU will denounce hateful rhetoric or a hateful event that happened toward Polish LGBTQ+ people, but it’s nothing more than finger wagging at this point. As far as the “LGBT Free Zones,” it’s true that 6 municipalities are losing their EU funding due to their homophobia, but the Polish government has stepped in and offered to give these municipalities all of the money they lost and more. They are being rewarded for their homophobia. This funding is being redirected from a fund used to help victims of crime.

Q: Let’s talk about a specific event that’s happening within the “LGBT Free Zones.” The “safety walk” in Lublin, Poland is rather terrifying.

A: A far-right nationalist group posted on Facebook that they would be walking around the city of Lublin to keep their streets safe and clean from queer people. The “safety walk” sounds like a threat. They are telling queer people that they need to stay off the streets after 6pm or they will be beaten up or worse. You have to remember that Lublin is very conservative.

The police said the bomb could’ve killed several people. The couple was sentenced to only one year in prison, so by now they are free. It’s unfortunate how little the dignity and lives of queer people are worth in Poland.

The head of the Lublin Voivodeship recently said on national TV that we should shut up about idiotic things like human rights because queer people are not equal to normal people. In a country where the holocaust happened, I don’t understand how people don’t see the parallels between what was being said about Jewish people during World War 2, and this dehumanizing propaganda against queer people today.

Some of the same funding was also sent to a priest who used sausage to exorcise the demons out of vegan and vegetarian people.

This is the same place where a married couple brought a homemade bomb to the 2019 pride parade, luckily they were stopped by the police before they had the chance to set it off.

Survey

Titled, “What does queer safe space mean to you?”, this survey is a hybrid of qualitative and quantitative research methods. It serves as the precursor to my case study of participatory spaces occupied by queer individuals in Warsaw, Poland. I aimed to ask Polish queer people and queer allies how they define queer space as a way to understand the types of adaptations necessary for them to feel safe. Respondents used to survey to state where they felt safest being themselves–whether it’s around close friends, in their own home, or at their favorite bubble tea shop. The survey was compiled and developed in May 2022 and then released on June 1st, 2022, just in time for the start of LGBTQ+ pride month. The survey was translated into Polish with the help of Anna Roszman. Responses were allowed to be submitted in either English or Polish. The survey collected responses for the entire month of June and response collection was turned off on July 1st. A total of 113 people responded.

Survey Promotion

The survey was promoted using multiple different avenues, including on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and in-person at Parada Równości (Warsaw Pride) and Młodsza Siostra Cafe. Social media was an important aspect of gathering responses.

Co znaczy dla Ciebie sformułowanie

“bezpieczne przestrzenie dla osob LGBTQ+”?

To kick start survey responses, activist Maja Heban posted my survey on her Twitter page to her more than 20,000 followers during the first week of June. Fundusz Feministyczny, a Warsaw-based feminist organization supporting trans and nonbinary people, sent my survey out as a link in one of their email newsletters. Next, I posted my survey in a few Polish queer Facebook and Reddit groups that were suggested to me by other Polish queer people. The Facebook groups were called “Grupa Wsparcia dla Osób Transpłciowych” (a group supporting trans people), “HRTawka” (a group for trans people who are taking HRT), “Sypialniawka Miesiąc Dumy” (a sex positive pride month group) and “LGBT Architects/ Engineers/Designers.” "LGBT Architects/Engineers/Designers" is a group I’ve been a part of since August 2020, it’s comprised of LGBTQ+ architects, engineers, and designers from all across Poland, with majority of the group residing in Warsaw. The Reddit group, “Tęczowa Polska” (Rainbow Poland), also served as a place for response collection.

Lastly, I printed and laminated QR codes with a link to my survey and handed them out in-person. I printed 100 of them in 3 inch by 3 inch squares and handed them out at Warsaw Pride on June 25th, also posting them up on a table in the entry of Młodsza Siostra Cafe. Młodsza Siostra is a queerfriendly cafe in Warsaw that will serve as one of my case studies later on. The cafe is a place where people come and post different personal items such as surveys, posters, QR codes, and informational brochures.

Target Audience

Co znaczy dla Ciebie sformułowanie

“bezpieczne przestrzenie dla osob LGBTQ+”?

Co znaczy dla Ciebie sformułowanie

“bezpieczne przestrzenie dla osob LGBTQ+”?

The target audience for the survey was all Polish LGBTQ+ people and their allies. I aimed to make sure the survey reached a diverse audience. Because there are no public spaces for trans and gender nonconforming people to gather in Warsaw or anywhere in Poland, I wanted to hear especially from them about how they define queer space and where they feel safest being. Not only are there no safe spaces for them, these groups of people are often left out of the conversation about rights and protections for queer people.

Bias

Co

“bezpieczne przestrzenie dla osob LGBTQ+”?

Questions in the survey were developed to prevent any respondent bias from occurring. Respondents were in no way encouraged to provide a particular response to any question since there was nothing at stake. The questions were written in as neutral of a way as possible by being easy to understand, devoid of subjective adjectives, loaded questions, and double negatives. I want to stress my positionality within this project as being a Polish-American, queer, young, and white individual–through which any of these identities could potentially influence the outcome of my research.

znaczy dla Ciebie sformułowanie

Survey Organization

The survey was assembled using Google Forms so that it could be easily accessed by survey respondents via a link. The organization of the survey started with a disclaimer and a bit of informational text that described my research project:

‘The information provided will be used exclusively for a report on Polish queer safe space. This survey will not collect any personal identifiable information such as email addresses or names. This survey is safely secured on a university email account and on a password protected computer. This survey is a student project called “Safely Visible: An Investigation into Polish Queer Space” for the University of Michigan Polish Studies Department as part of the 2022 Copernicus Graduate Fellowship position. For more information or to engage more with the project, please contact Lucjan Rostkowski-Covington (lucjanrc@umich.edu). The information will not be used or distributed for profit and use other than anything academically related. If these questions are difficult or uncomfortable for you in any way, or if you would prefer not to answer them, you can choose to leave them blank.’

The disclaimer was important to include in order to build trust between myself and the respondents. My contact information was also included in case respondents wanted to reach out to me.

Beyond this were a total of 8 questions, 4 of which were multiple choice, 2 short answer, and 2 long answer. The first 5 questions were demographic questions that dealt with age, sexuality, gender identity, and nationality. They were designed to provide some context for the 6th and 7th questions. The 6th question was the most important one in the survey, where I asked respondents to define what a queer safe space means to them. The 7th question allowed for respondents to write in anything they wanted that they felt wasn’t asked previously. The final question asked respondents if they consented to the information provided to be used in this report. I wanted to keep the survey concise to increase engagement and responses.

Starting on the following page, each survey question is analyzed with charts, graphs, quotes, and commentary.

Question 1:

The first question in the survey asked respondents, “What is your age?” This was a write-in question where respondents could answer how they wished. The youngest respondent was 13 and the oldest respondent was 47. I organized the information into 5 year intervals. The highest group of respondents were between the ages of 18 and 22, 50 responses or 44.2%. The second highest number of responses came from people between the ages of 23 and 27, 26 responses or 23%. The responses tend to skew a lot younger and this most likely has to do with the fact that Polish young people are more open about how they identify and tend to frequent social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Question 2:

The second question in the survey asked respondents, “What is your nationality, citizenship, or legal status?” I decided to make this a write-in question because this question is tricky. Individuals could have Polish citizenship but they might not have been born in Poland, or they may be working towards obtaining Polish citizenship. Responses varied a lot based on the multiple ways of saying a similar word in Polish, but I grouped the responses into these 4 categories: Polish, Polish citizenship, Polish nationality, and Ukrainian. 100 people or 89.3% of respondents answered that they are Polish. 7 people or 6.3% said they have Polish citizenship, 4 people or 3.6% said they have Polish nationality, and 1 person or 0.9% said they are Ukrainian.

What is your age?

113 Responses

What is your nationality, citizenship, or legal status?

Question 3:

The third question in the survey asked respondents the question, “What is your gender identity?” I provided respondents with the answer choices: woman, man, nonbinary, gender fluid, genderqueer, and intersex. There was also a choice to write in a response if you didn’t identify with the selections. One person wrote in “agender” and another person wrote in “doesn’t identify.” In general, I was surprised to receive a relatively equal distribution of responses between men, women, and individuals who are gender nonconforming. This question gathered a total of 113 responses with the same number of responses coming from men and women, 41 for both or 36.2% each.

Question 4:

The fourth question in the survey asked respondents a clarifying question to the one previous. “Do you identify as cisgender or transgender?” A majority of the respondents answered “transgender,” specifically 58 of them or 52.3%. This high number of responses from trans individuals can be attributed to how I promoted the survey. Maja Heban posted my survey on her twitter to her 20,000 followers. I also posted my survey in Facebook groups supporting trans people such as “Grupa Wsparcia dla Osób Transpłciowych” and “HRTawka.” Lastly, Fundusz Feministyczny posted my survey in an email newsletter. I wanted my survey to gather as many responses from transgender individuals as possible, since they are the most marginalized group in Poland and there are no public gathering spaces for them.

Question 5:

The fifth question in the survey asked respondents, “Are you an LGBTQ+ person or an LGBTQ+ ally?” This question was important because not everyone might be an LGBTQ+ person. While this survey is intended for queer people, it’s important to hear how LGBTQ+ allies understand the need for safe queer spaces. Respondents were given a choice between two answers: “LGBTQ+ Person” and “LGBTQ+ Ally.” This question garnered 112 responses with 105 or 93.8% coming from LGBTQ+ people and 7 or 6.3% coming from LGBTQ+ allies.

Question 6:

The sixth question in the survey asked respondents, “In your own words, how would you define a safe queer space?” This question prompted 112 responses with varying answers. People feel as though a safe queer space is one where their pronouns and gender identity are respected, they can feel free to be themselves, the spaces are primarily occupied by LGBTQ+ people, there are events geared towards LGBTQ+ people, and it’s visibly queer with emblems such as flags or stickers. First, I will highlight some of the most pertinent responses, followed by an analysis.

The person above makes an important point about the people that occupy queer safe spaces. They state that the staff have to walk the walk. A mere pride flag in the window means nothing to them. If they are mis-gendered by staff–then it’s not a safe space. Staff must have diversity training and understand how to properly address customers. If a situation arises where they are disrespected by another customer then they expect to be backed up by staff. Since the identity of gender fluid individuals shifts, it's important to respect how they identify in the present–thus why respecting pronouns are important to the individual above.

Are you an LGBTQ+ person or an LGBTQ+ ally?

“A place where people acknowledge and respect my pronouns, name, and identity... A good example...is a bubble tea shop [called] “Pij Herbatę” in Warsaw.”

(Polish, gender fluid, trans individual)

Pij Herbate, a bubble tea shop, located in downtown Warsaw.

The person above makes a statement on the design of the space needing to be inclusive. One of the ways of doing this is to establish gender neutral bathrooms and degender any other common spaces. This affirms individuals who are gender nonconforming and those who are on their transition journey. In a traditional binary bathroom typology, it can feel uncomfortable for trans people, especially those beginning their transition journey, to use the bathroom associated with their gender identity, due to fear of hostility towards them. Since the individual above stated that they are transgender, it makes sense that this adaptation would make them feel safe in a public space.

The person above says that the customers in a safe queer space are an integral part of creating its safety–they shouldn’t tolerate any hostility towards queer people. This is important because trans people around the world can experience violence, especially if they are perceived as being trans by the general public.

Question 7:

The seventh question in the survey asked respondents, “Is there anything you would like to mention that wasn’t asked previously.” This question garnered 48 responses, also with varying answers. This is where many respondents shared where they feel safest as a queer person in Poland and the current climate of queer acceptance in Poland.

The person above questions the safety of spaces that are considered safe queer spaces. It’s true that any public space that’s deemed safe can become unsafe due to a particular person or group of people wanting to cause trouble in the space. There’s no true safe public space, but we can make strides towards creating a safe environment by employees having LGBTQ+ diversity training, a space being hidden if necessary, and customers and employees stepping in to remove hateful people if a queerphobic situation arises. Having supportive family and friends also makes a huge difference when existing as a queer person, you tend to feel the safest around people who support you and have your best intentions at heart.

”I think that the safest places for queer people are in their homes with family and friends. There are queer-friendly cafes and restaurants, but at the end of day, anyone can come in and create an unsafe environment...”

(Polish, cisgender, LGBTQ+ woman)

“A space where there are no gendered toilets or gendered spaces...”

(Polish, trans man)

“...a place where they can be safely open about their queerness and have a guarantee that if someone was to act hostile towards them, that person would be removed.”

(Polish, trans man)

(Polish, cisgender, LGBTQ+, woman)

While I agree with the statement above to a certain extent, LGBTQ+ individuals are not able to visually express themselves as authentically as they would want to in Poland, and therefore are possibly not as noticeable to the general public. Individuals also feel as though they can’t express their affection to their significant other in public. I want to see a Poland where queer people are noticeable in the way they would like to be. I want people to be accepted, and not just tolerated or invisible.

(Polish, cisgender, LGBTQ+, woman)

Support starts at the familial and friendship level; it's crucial for queer people to have a support system. A 2019 survey produced by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that just "18% of LGBTQ+ teenage respondents (15-17 years old) in Poland said their school education at some point addressed LGBTQ+ issues in a balanced way."[1][2] A 2019-2020 report from Warsaw LGBTQ+ organization Campaign Against Homophobia and Lambda Warszawa found that "61% of mothers who are aware of the LGBTQ+ identity of their child, accept them".[3] "The percentage is even lower among fathers, just 54%".[4] The report also found that 44% of LGBTQ+ people in Poland experience depression.[5]

“We don’t even notice that LGBTQIA+ people are around us. We pass them on the street, in a shop, at school, we work next to them. I want everyone to see that they are no different from one another except for their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

“Just think how much [LGBTQ+] people could achieve if they received the support they deserved. I bet that many people could change the world, help others, and create new breakthroughs in technology and innovation.”

“The phrase “safe space” has a lot of different interpretations. An LGBTQ+ club in Poznań is a safer space than an LGBTQ+ club in Rzeszów. The truth is that I don’t think there are “safe spaces” in Poland like there are in the West–but there are certainly places where things are worse or better.”

(Polish, nonbinary individual)

It’s true that the prevalence and safety of queer spaces in Poland largely depends on where they are located. Poznań is located in the western part of Poland, just three hours away from Berlin, Germany by train. As mentioned previously in the context chapter, western Poland is much more progressive than eastern Poland, where Rzeszów is located. I think queer spaces will function in a safe way, but the probability of a queerphobic individual inflicting harm in the space is much higher in a conservative area or in a smaller community, especially in ones that have declared themselves “LGBT Free Zones.” Since the person above identifies as nonbinary, and nonbinary people have been a hot-button topic–mis-gendered and made fun of by Polish news media and the general public–it's possible that they feel ostracized and unwelcome in Polish public space.

The individual above is stating that they would like more niche spaces for smaller groups within the LGBTQ+ community to gather–they would like spaces for lesbians. I think it’s important to have both spaces for niche groups of people to meet and also spaces for everyone. While there are no lesbian bars left in Poland, there is a group called Twin Heart Poland that organizes parties strictly for lesbians around the country. There are also several online groups on Facebook and Reddit for example for lesbians to meet, many of these groups also organize meet ups in person. Finally, as you will see in the case study chapter of this report, the case study spaces are for everyone, but they definitely also have events that cater to specific communities and groups of people.

Question 8:

The final question in the survey asked respondents, “Do you consent to this information being used in a research project pertaining to queer studies at University of Michigan?” 100% of the survey respondents or 113 people answered “yes” to this.

Future Research

To continue this line of research in the future, it would be beneficial to add questions pertaining to where respondents live, whether it’s in a small, medium, or large city in Poland. This would give more context to their responses without being invasive about where exactly they live. Also, a question asking individuals where they feel safest being themselves and to name a safe queer space they know of in Poland would have created a more participatory approach to the development of the case study. Finally, asking individuals which public spaces or places they avoid going to in Poland would’ve been helpful as well.

“I would love there to be more spaces that are not queer, but prioritizing particular groups. For example, since the closing of the only lesbian bar in my city...I don’t have anywhere to go. [Can we focus] on needs and experiences of different groups instead of trying to create some kind of a one-sizefits-all situation?”

(Polish, cisgender, LGBTQ+, woman)

Case Studies

Following the survey, it was important to conduct a case study of participatory queer and queer allied spaces in Warsaw, Poland. The case study began with visiting all spaces to get a sense for which ones would be pertinent to my research topic. The case study was conducted in two parts, first using participant observation of the space and second with semi-structured interviews with the owners, employees, and collective members of the spaces. The case study includes 6 indoor spaces, 1 transient outdoor event, and 1 city for comparison. Research was conducted from May 2022 until August 2022. Below are the 6 indoor spaces, mapped.

Case Selection

Case selections were chosen from a list of over 20 queer and queer allied spaces that I visited in Warsaw. After visiting all of these spaces, I narrowed down my research to focus only on participatory queer and queer allied safe spaces. It was apparent to me that these spaces were more focused on creating a safe, inclusive, and culture-forming environment rather than just simply running a business to turn a profit.

I chose 6 full cases with participant observations and interviews and 2 mini cases with just participant observations. The 6 full cases include, Lambda Warszawa, Margines Barber, Klub Pogłos, ADA Puławska, Młodsza Siostra, and Inclusive.buzz (Inclsv). These 6 cases are all located in buildings, mostly indoors. The 2 mini cases include the Warsaw Equality Parade and the city of Poznań, Poland. Even though these 2 cases aren’t indoor spaces, they are important to include for various reasons. The Warsaw Equality Parade is a beacon for the queer community across all of Poland and Eastern Europe. Poznań, Poland is a city in progressive leaning western Poland that has a fairly large number of queer spaces given its small size. It’s important to show this city as a comparison to queer spaces in Warsaw.

Case Organization

Each full case has 4 pages of information. The first page has the name of the space, a designation as to whether it’s a queer space or a queer allied space, and a short list of some of the activities that happen in the space. There is also a visual legend that denotes the spaces on a scale from queer-friendly to queer. Following this is a short summary of the space and a transcribed interview with either an owner, a collective member, or an employee of that space. On the final 2 pages of each case is a spread with annotated images, a simple 3D diagram of the space, and some observations about the design and people who occupy the space.

Interview Methodology

Once the observations were complete, I went back and conducted semi-structured interviews with the owners, collective members, or employees of the spaces that were a part of my case study. I chose to conduct this specific type of interview because I wanted a nice balance between structured questions that could slightly change with each interviewee, and also allow for the interviewee to be able to give long-form answers. I started with a base set of questions that I then altered based on the person I was interviewing and the space we were discussing. For example, one of the base questions asked interviewees about queerphobic violence they’ve experienced in their space. I asked Lambda Warszawa to elaborate on the attack on their establishment in November 2021, since I knew they had experienced violence. However, for Inclsv, they haven’t experienced violence since they’re a new business, so I asked the owner if she was worried about potential queerphobic attacks. A semi-structured interview also feels more conversational, which makes the interviewee feel more comfortable. These interviews were vital in understanding much more about the space than from what I could just observe on my own. Such as, asking owners why they chose to locate their business in a particular spot. It also provided me the opportunity to ask them questions pertaining to queer space at a larger scale. Such as, asking them to define what a safe queer space means to them. These interviews took place from July to August in 2022. They typically lasted about an hour and were all roughly 25 questions long.

Observational Methodology

For participant observation, I visited spaces multiple times. I visited them during various times of the day, for a variety of events, and studied both the people who occupied the space and the design of the space. I chose to conduct this type of observation because it’s more naturalistic; no one had a sense that I was there for research purposes, therefore the results were more authentic. The observations were conducted from May to July in 2022. Before I began visiting and observing these spaces, I formulated a list of questions to internally ask myself to make sure I got all the necessary observations. Below are those questions. Photos of the spaces were taken by me with the permission of the people who occupied each space. You’ll notice that there are very few people in my photos and that’s because I tried to respect everyone’s privacy.

Design Observations

1) How does the space look from the outside?

2) Is the space hidden or obscured from the street?

3) Is there any signage, if so, how large or noticeable is it?

4) Is there any indication that this could be a queer space from the outside?

5) How is the approach from the street?

6) How large is the space, compared to other queer spaces?

7) Are there any defensive traits on the exterior of the building, such as bars on the windows or doors?

8) Is there any natural light inside the space?

9) Does the interior of the space relate, if at all, to its exterior?

10) Does the furniture and decor of the space feel transient or stoic?

11) What is the circulation like inside the space?

12) How is public and private space organized in the building?

13) Is there any information in the space or in the bathrooms for individuals seeking out LGBTQ+ resources?

Social Observations

1) What age are the people in this establishment?

2) How empty or crowded is the space?

3) Does this space feel inclusive towards the LGBTQ+ community?

4) Who is missing or excluded in this space?

5) What language(s) are spoken in this space?

6) What kinds of people are employed in this space?

Lambda Warszawa

Queer Business Social Service Organization

Lambda Warszawa is the first and still the largest LGBTQ+ social service organization in Poland, located downtown in the capital city of Warsaw. Started roughly 25 years ago, they’ve grown to now have two emergency housing shelters, provide therapy, legal counsel and financial support for LGBTQ+ people in crisis. Miłosz Przepiórkowski, director of history and education, speaks with me about what the organization is currently focused on and the distinction between queer spaces on the left and right side of the Wisła river.

Interview with Miłosz Przepiórkowski:

Q: What types of services does Lambda Warszawa provide?

A: Lambda Warszawa provides housing, legal counsel, therapy, and financial support for LGBTQ+ people in need.

Q: What year did this particular office location open?

A: Lambda Warszawa opened 25 years ago and has been in this space since 2008. Before 2008, we were located in a different place, but also in the center of the city.

Q: What changed from the previous space to this space?

A: This space is much larger, but it’s still not big enough. For example, we are currently using our library as a psychological support space because we’ve run out of space to accommodate all the clients that come to us for help. This is also the third place we’ve been located in, the first one was a lot closer to the river and farther from the center. I think it’s important for us to be located in the center because it’s easily accessible to everyone.

Q: Is there still a need to keep the current space hidden?

A: We fly pride flags from the street now. Yes, the building is a bit hidden from the public and not very visible because there have been attacks. For example, during the Independence Day marches back in November 2021, there were stones thrown through the windows of our building. We are located on the 3rd floor of this building, but it’s still not high enough to avoid attacks. It’s safer to be higher up; we can’t be located on the ground level of a building.

Q: Do you think queer social service and advocacy organizations more targeted than queer bars, clubs, and restaurants?

A: It’s hard to say. We are in Warsaw, which is a lot more open than let’s say eastern Poland, but any space can be targeted. Even the simple act of putting up a rainbow flag can make you a target. We are safer than other organizations that perform advocacy work because we are mostly a help organization. Advocacy organizations are more targeted because they are more visible by the nature of the work they do. They are more politically targeted rather than targeted by nationalists. When you do advocacy work, you step out of a bubble and you project your work at politicians and that is something that makes you much more visible.

Q: How do the people you help find out about Lambda Warszawa?

A: They know about Lambda through word-of-mouth and because it’s the oldest queer organization in Poland. If you type into Google “help line LGBT,” our help line number pops up first.

Source: Lambda Warszawa website

Q: I am familiar with the fact that you have an emergency housing shelter for both houseless LGBTQ+ Ukrainian refugees and Polish people. When were these established?

A: The first one started in 2015, but it ended in 2016 because it was a project based on Norwegian grant funding. The space reopened in September 2021. It’s located in Warsaw, but not in the city center as a means to keep people safe. We never let any outsiders including LGBTQ+ friendly media or journalists come visit or take pictures. We also have a new shelter specifically for refugees from Ukraine, which I can say is in Ursynów. It’s a big place–170 square meters–on two levels. About 10-15 people can stay there at a time. It’s very new; it opened just after the invasion of Ukraine. We rented the building about three weeks after the invasion started, around the end of March.

Q: Is Lambda Warszawa an open space for people to come gather and hang out?

A: Yes, Ukrainian refugees in particular come here very often to sit down, have coffee, and chat. Our space has now become a community center.

Q: Would you ever want to have housing connected to this space or should they remain separate like they are now?

A: We want it to stay separate. The two housing shelters are run by other people who were appointed by us. It’s good that these shelters are not in the center of Warsaw because they would be more easily targeted.

Q: How are the two housing shelters funded?

A: The shelter for LGBTQ+ Ukrainian refugees is funded by grants and donations from all across Europe; the shelter for LGBTQ+ Polish people is funded partially by the city of Warsaw.

Q: Are there any additional services or spaces you wish you had at Lambda Warszawa?

A: We are thinking about opening a queer museum in Warsaw.

Q: Why is it that there are no queer spaces for lesbians, trans people, or nonbinary people in Warsaw?

A: A lot of queer spaces such as bars and restaurants exist for the purpose of making money. There is simply not enough of a customer base to support a space like this. Either not enough of these people are out of the closet, or they simply do not want to go to places like this. I’ve heard from many lesbians for example, that there is no need for these types of spaces because they don’t really go out. Once they make friends with other people that are similar to them, they would rather stay home and hang out with friends. There were a couple bars for lesbians in Warsaw, but they simply didn’t make enough money to survive.

Q: How can we start to merge safety and visibility of a queer space in Warsaw?

A: I think in downtown Warsaw there is not that big of a problem when it comes to safety. Queer spaces are located on the left side of the river in areas that are generally more safe. There are no queer spaces on the right side of the river in Praga, for example. I couldn’t imagine a queer space existing in Praga–it’s not safe. I went to an art exhibition about trans people once which was held in Praga Północ. The artist of the exhibition was from Kraków so she wasn’t aware that this area of Warsaw wasn’t safe for queer people. I warned her against opening the exhibition in this location.

Q: Why is it that there’s such a distinction of safety between the left and right side of the Wisła river?

A: Because Praga was built mainly for factory workers, the education level of people living in Praga was generally a lot lower. It was a slum for factory workers and their families. These places also exist on the left side of the river but they aren’t as prevalent. One area on the left side that I can think of that’s also not safe is Wrzeciono. I lived there for two years and I wouldn’t go back.

Q: What will it take for queer spaces to exist on the right side of the river and in Warsaw suburbs?

A: There are currently a few spaces, but they are all underground queer-friendly places. There is one place that I can think of called Pogłos. Pogłos is a club which is not in the city center and it’s a queer-friendly place. For me, there’s a huge distinction between a gay place and a queer place.

Q: Why are people not donating to support organizations like they are to advocacy organizations?

A: Because the work we do is not as visible. You don’t see our clients because they are behind doors and in sessions with therapists and lawyers–it’s not sexy. International organizations are also not interested in supporting us because the money that they put in will never be visible. When we receive a lot of money, we spend it on food stamps, rent for our buildings, sessions, and clothes–none of this is visible to a donor.

Design

Many spaces in their office are for multipurpose use, given the limited space they have. For example, the library also is being used as a therapy counseling room. The interior decor and furniture is minimal. The walls are painted white, with some posters on them. The ceilings are very tall, which does help make the spaces feel larger.

The building they are in was built in 1901, both the exterior and interior have changed very little since then. Lambda Warszawa’s total space is about 168 square meters. It’s definitely smaller than what I was expecting given the amount of work they do.

In the whole building they have: offices for staff, a main gathering room, an archive, a library, and a room for the crisis help line.

Distinction between public and private space is harder to follow, since rooms change programs pretty often. Whether a space is public or private depends on what it’s being used for in that particular moment.

While they do fly pride flags out their windows, the entry into Lambda from the stairwell is nondescript. You don’t even know which door leads to the Lambda office. Their suite number is not listed on the building.

“We currently have so much work because we are one of the only that offers totally free support. We pay psychologists, lawyers, and don’t have to. Since the crisis began in Ukraine, we started receiving funding. People are finally realizing that there’s an organization tons of support for queer people” (Miłosz Przepiórkowski)

Above is the front facade of the building that Lambda Warszawa is in. You can see their balcony on the 2nd floor with flags hanging.

Their office receives a lot of natural sunlight, not only from street facing windows, but also from an interior courtyard.

only organizations in Warsaw and therapists so our clients receiving a lot more grants and in Warsaw that is providing

Above is the main gathering space. This is the largest space in the office and houses events, workshops, larger meetings, and functions as a sort of community center space.

Below is the archive room, full of queer magazines and publications, from not just Poland, but from all over the world.

People

The people who occupy this space are not only employees of Lambda Warszawa, but also clients they serve, which include all members of the LGBTQ+ community and Ukrainian refugees.

Lambda Warszawa is open from 8am to 9pm daily. Their google hours are listed as being from 6pm to 9pm, but this is when the crisis help line is open.

Generally, the organization appears to be understaffed due to financial reasons. For example, they have three help lines but only one person working them, so each line can only be open for a few hours each day.

The clients Lambda serves are free to come and go all day long; the space has become more of a community center as of late, according to staff.

Inclsv (Inclusive.buzz)

Queer Allied Business Restaurant + Cafe + Workspace + Event Space

Inclsv is one of the newest queer-friendly establishments in Warsaw. Having opened in April 2022, it’s truly a one-of-a-kind participatory space in all of Poland. Inclsv is a restaurant, cafe, workspace and event space. As far as events, they host everything from concerts to yoga to dance classes. It’s a space that caters not only to LGBTQ+ people and refugees, but also to the general public at large–everyone is welcome. Owner Ulla Prussak and photographer/manager Marta Zadykowicz speak with me about how Inclsv came to be and the importance of diverse community gathering spaces in Warsaw.

Interview with Ulla Prussak + Marta Zadykowicz:

Q: When did you open?

A: We opened April 4th, 2022. We have been here for almost three months now. We opened relatively quietly, our calendar was not packed full of events. Instead, we are building momentum step-by-step with each event that we host. We are also building momentum as we apply for grants and win them. We first started with our employees, to make sure they had the resources to be successful in the workplace–and in their lives–as many of them are refugees from countries like Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Syria. We communicate with them to ensure that their workplace is a positive and enriching environment. We want to create an environment for our employees to where they feel at home in this space.

Q: What steps did you take to ensure this space would be a safe space for all people to gather?

A: One of the ways is that we don’t sell alcohol, because it can be a conduit for people to stop feeling safe in a public space. We are not a space that is set up for a bar, club, or party and we intend to keep it this way. We are more of a community center or workspace where you can come sit and chat with people. This is a place where you can be fully yourself without worry of what others might think of you. We do fly several pride flags and are very visibly queer, but the most important thing for us is to create a safe space for all. You can fly pride flags and still not be friendly towards all queer people. Conversely, you can be a queer space that is not welcoming towards straight people–we’ve worked really hard to create an environment for anyone to feel welcome.

Q: Why are you located in this particular location?

A: Honestly, it was a complete accident. We were looking for places all over Warsaw and we really wanted to start from something much smaller than this space such as 50 square meters. I just happened to be walking past this space. I walked in to view it and I just had a gut feeling that this space had the potential to become a thriving community center. This space is very big–180 square meters in total for both floors–but I told myself I have to make this a reality because there is such a need for a space like this in Warsaw. I always had big aspirations for opening a large community center space that would look like something out of Berlin or Copenhagen, and I finally did it. We renovated this space and opened it in just a few months.

Q: You did a full renovation of this space?

A: Yes, the space was awful before. It was claustrophobic on the inside, there were tons of tiny rooms. The renovation took about 5 months.

Q: Are you worried at all about potential homophobic attacks on this space?

A: Well, no one has smashed our windows yet. We are worried about November 11th, which is the Polish Independence Day. Unfortunately, nationalists drive into Warsaw every year on this day and wreak havoc.

Source: Instagram, @baza.inclusive

Q: I know that you mainly hire refugees and queer people, how do prospective employees find out that you’re hiring?

A: At the start, we used social media, mainly Facebook. There are Facebook groups made up of refugees who are moving to Poland and need to find work. We put an ad in a couple of these groups and we had a big turnout–over 60 people came. It was really hard to narrow down who to hire from the group. Whoever we don’t hire, we try to direct them to another establishment in Warsaw that is hiring. Now, people find out about us through word-of-mouth, and even social service organizations in Warsaw direct people to us. We also want to stress that we don’t discriminate from hiring Polish people or people who aren’t queer. One of our cooks, for example, is Polish and straight, but she was discriminated against for her age at other restaurants in Warsaw.

Q: How did you finance this space?

A: We had a private investor. We feel very fortunate because our investor is someone who was fully on board with our proposal from start to finish. He’s been my friend since we were 10 years old. He treated this project more like a philanthropic act and less like a business transaction. From our investor, to the man who fabricated our bar, to the people who donated furniture and art to us, everyone wanted to help solely because they believed in our vision to create this wonderful space.

Q: Was being visibly queer important when designing this space?

A: It was actually a natural process that occurred over the past few months of us being open. We didn’t set out to put up a ton of pride flags and posters. We put up a pride flag with our logo on it outside of our front door for pride month and we ended up just leaving it up. The one thing we did have intentionally done, however, was the rainbow mural downstairs. I knew from the start that I wanted the mural to look a certain way and I knew which artist I wanted to commission to do it. Our top priority was to create a diverse and inclusive safe space for all to gather, the queer emblems came later. We also didn’t want to appear too overtly queer as to potentially scare off any people from thinking they’re not welcome here. There’s a fine line when trying to design space for everyone to feel welcome in.

Q: Are there any additional spaces or events you wish to see in here?

A: Yes, we will hopefully start hosting therapy sessions in our quieter, more private room upstairs. As far as events, we are constantly working on bringing in more; it’s just an issue of space. We don’t want to overbook and run out of space for our customers–I constantly worry about this. We have three rooms upstairs of varying sizes that people can rent out to run their own events or use privately. We make sure that every person who comes to us with an event proposal has a fair chance at renting out a space. I don’t think I would want a larger space, simply because this one is already big and an even larger space would be difficult to manage. In the future, I envision us doing larger outdoor events throughout Warsaw.

Q: Which countries do your staff mostly come from?

A: Rwanda, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, and Belarus among many others. Due to our multicultural space, our main language here is English, but there are also those people who can’t speak English and have instead chosen to learn Polish. These refugees have no spaces to gather in Warsaw, so our space is super important to them.

Q: In your own words, how would you define a safe queer space?

A: A space where even if someone doesn’t agree with you, they still respect you as a person. A space where people look beyond your sexuality or gender identity and they’re genuinely interested in getting to know you.

Q: Do you wish to see queer space more integrated into mainstream Polish society?

A: I would say yes because it doesn’t make sense to me for queer spaces to remain closed off. Nothing makes me more angry than trying to segregate people. We are all a part of the same society at the end of the day.

Q: Do you think that Warsaw is starting to become more welcoming towards LGBTQ+ people?

A: I think so, and this space being open and thriving is proof of that. I think that hateful people are slowly becoming the minority in Warsaw. We have strength in numbers. I can feel month-to-month as time moves forward that Warsaw is becoming more inclusive, more people are starting to live authentic lives. Even in smaller cities across Poland, I feel as though the situation of queer people is improving. Queer people are able to come out of the closet and don’t feel as much of an urge to move away to be able to live authentically. I’ve worked in Polish radio and media for years, and I can sense that LGBTQ+ topics are no longer niche or taboo topics like they were even 10 years ago.

People

While all ages occupy this space, the owner made a point to say that this space was designed with young people in mind. She said that young people between the ages of 15 and 25 experienced the most depression and anxiety in 2020 due to pandemic quarantine and isolation. She wanted to create a space for them to gather and see each other again.

This is a space that is multicultural. Poles, Afghans, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Nigerians, and Rwandans, among other nationalities, occupy this space as both customers and employees.

In August 2022, Inclusive.buzz won a grant from the German Embassy in Warsaw for the creation of programs and events for Ukrainian refugee youth. There is a new queer knitting club that meets regularly.

“I hear from customers all the time that there’s never been a space like this in Warsaw. I think what sets us apart from other spaces is...that we welcome the queer community with open arms and don’t turn anyone else away with the same token. Every day I ask myself what kind of responsibility I have to uphold a space that is so unique to all of Warsaw and even Poland.” (Ulla Prussak)

Above is a picture of the quiet, private lounge space. This is a space that can be rented out for private meetings or for working.

Above is a picture of the rainbow mural that was painted by a local Polish artist. This was the first LGBTQ+ emblem in this space.

Interior Design

The space is a large, 2 floor space with 180 square meters.

The ground level houses a register, a kitchen, a wheelchair accessible bathroom, an indoor seating area, and an outdoor seating area.

The upper level houses more private spaces. There’s a private office for management, a private staff room, a bathroom, and three spaces of varying size that can be rented out for events.

One of the spaces that can be rented out has stoic doors and walls that create a private, quiet atmosphere. The other two have movable walls that can merge to create one larger space for bigger events such as concerts.

The interior design of the space was set to look like Berlin meets Copenhagen, according to the owner. Overall the space feels clean, warm, and inviting on the inside. It’s a clear departure from older queer and queer allied spaces that have a grungy aesthetic.

The interior decor of the space took a participatory approach with people donating furniture and art to the space. There is a lot of comfortable furniture such as couches, which indicate this is a space where you can come and stay for as long as you want.

Above is the main event space. When there aren’t events happening, there are tables and chairs set up for lounging, working, or eating.

Below is an LGBTQ+ pride flag that hangs in the front window of Inclsv. The flag was put up for pride month and was left up permanently.

Above is the entrance to Inclsv.

Klub Pogłos

Queer Allied Business Bar + Club + Music Venue + Event Space

Injust 6 years, Pogłos has grown to be one of the most well known places on the entire map of Warsaw. It’s a large four level space with both indoor and outdoor rooms. They have organized over 2000 events since their inception in 2016, with events such as concerts, film screenings, poetry slams, workshops, vegan barbecues, drag shows, and charity fundraisers. Unfortunately, Pogłos has to shutter its doors by the end of September 2022 and will be torn down due to a developer-driven project taking over its space. A lot of people are upset by this and their petition to find Pogłos a new home in Warsaw has amassed over 3,000 signatures. I speak with Karol Czerniakiewicz about Pogłos’ importance to the community and their ongoing search for a new home.

Interview with Karol Czerniakiewicz:

Q: What is your name and what is your role at Pogłos?

A: My name is Karol Czerniakiewicz and I’m one of 6 owners of Pogłos. We operate with a social cooperative model of ownership. We are a business, but we handle all of the decision making in a fair, democratic fashion.

Q: What year did Pogłos open?

A: 2016

Q: Is this the first iteration of Pogłos?

A: Yes, this is the first location we’ve ever established, and we opened 6 years ago. Before us, there was another club in this location, but I’m not sure if it was queer-friendly or not, but probably not. Back then, there weren’t as many queer-friendly places in Warsaw, there were either places that were strictly for queer people or weren’t for queer people at all. We are a club that is open to everyone–we would like any person to feel welcome in our space.

Q: How do people find out about Pogłos?

A: People mostly find out about us through social media or by word-of-mouth.

Q: Can you describe to me the design of the interior?

A: Pogłos has a post-industrial style with a D.I.Y. feel and a basement vibe–it’s not very pretty.

Q: I noticed that Pogłos is one of the only queer-friendly spaces located outside of downtown Warsaw, is there a reason why you’re located in this particular spot?

A: I don’t think there’s a particular reason other than this space came available after the last club closed down. They closed down because the space kind of ran its course. They opened in the late 90’s, and they didn’t have enough resources to continue operating after so many years. The club before had a similar vibe to us, they had a D.I.Y. vibe, and we wanted to continue that legacy in this particular building.

Q: What types of people and what age groups frequent this space?

A: It’s hard to say. We have people visit our club who are younger, let’s say 18 years old, but we also have much older people visit our club. It really depends on the type of event we have going on that particular day. We make sure to include all age groups and people in the events that we host.

Source: Facebook, Pogłos

Q: Why do you have to close down by the end of September?

A: We are closing because developers are going to start building an apartment building in our location. Because of this, important locations of cultural and community gathering in Warsaw are being forced to close down.

Q: How is the search going for finding Pogłos a new home?

A: Not well at all, we have no leads at the moment. We are really struggling to find a new space. Either spaces are too expensive or too small. Generally speaking, there are very few spaces in Warsaw available for rent at the moment.

Q: How do you envision the new Pogłos is going to look like?

A: This is a very hard question to answer; however, we are open to a lot of different possibilities. We are looking for something unique. When you come to Pogłos, you’ll see that it’s a space that looks like a house with an outdoor garden space. It will be very difficult to replicate this atmosphere in a different location in Warsaw. In general, we’re looking for a large space that’s well connected to the rest of Warsaw and doesn’t have any neighbors surrounding it so we can host our events without interruption.

Q: Since you’re telling me that you wish to have a large space without neighbors, does this mean you will have to be located outside of downtown Warsaw?

A: It’s hard to say–we’re looking all over the city for spaces.

Q: Have you ever experienced queerphobic attacks or vandalism in Pogłos?

A: Not particularly. Every once in a while, we have some racist graffiti appear on our building.

Q: I saw that one of your supporters left a comment on your petition and said that Warsaw will become a cultural desert without Pogłos. Can you tell me how you cultivate a community gathering space at Pogłos?

A: We try to do a lot for the community, mostly with the events that we put on. With our events, we create a space for everyone to feel welcome not only as guests, but also as event planners. We don’t tell people how their event should look like, we let them have free reign.

Q: Are there any additional events or spaces you wish you had in here?

A: We are already very big, so adding any more spaces or events would be difficult for us to manage.

Q: In your own words, how would you define a queer safe space?

A: I think it starts with the employees, managers, and people who work in a space–for them to know how to properly address other people in various situations and for them to have knowledge about different minority groups. Just a few years ago, this was much harder to execute than it is today–especially with bouncers. For example, if a man walks into our club wearing a dress, no employee is going to make fun or make him feel out of place.

Q: Do you think that Warsaw is starting to become more welcoming towards LGBTQ+ people?

A: Yes, I think it is. There are quite a few people in Warsaw who are moving the needle forward on queer rights. There are quite a lot of places where queer people can go out in public and feel safe. Even the Warsaw Equality Parade is growing year after year. It used to be that there were no places to go after the parade, and now there are so many events for queer people that you don’t know what to do with yourself. Part of this has to do with bandwagoning and making money, but in general, I think it’s better with than without.

Q: How do you think we could start to merge safety and visibility of queer space in Warsaw?

A: Small things such as putting pride stickers in different spaces can help as a first step of making a queer person feel safe. I also think social media is playing a big role in helping people by creating ecosystems of allies, and I think it’s permeating into national media in Poland. People who’ve never recognized queer people are finally having conversations.

Q: Do you wish to see queer space more integrated into Polish society?

A: Yes. I’m starting to see a wider variety of queer and queer-friendly places in Poland. Not just clubs but also cafes, restaurants, and bookstores.

Q: Are there any other queer spaces that you know of similar to this one that I should visit in Warsaw?

A: Młodsza Siostra is a similar one.

Exterior Design

This is a large 4 level space, with an open air seating area + bar on the main level, a downstairs lounge, an upstairs concert venue + bar, and bathrooms + an event space on the top floor.

The interior and exterior relate well to each other; they both have a D.I.Y. vibe.

The exterior can be characterized as being worn with peach colored paint peeling off the cinder block exterior and graffiti sprayed on the front-facing green canopy.

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Interior Design

The walls on the inside are painted black and have posters, pride flags, stickers, and some graffiti spray painted on them. The only floor that differs is the top floor event space; it has a light, airy feel with many windows.

Posters and stickers can be seen advertising various organizations in Warsaw.

The building is beginning to look dwarfed by the new, tall, glass office and apartment buildings surrounding it. It no longer fits in with the context of the area.

Above is the room the owners call the garden. They added the retractable indoor-outdoor canopy onto the structure for an event space.

Above is a picture of the stairwell looking down from the top floor of the space. The walls are painted black here as well.

Above is a picture of the music venue with the stage in the background. This is a large, dark room, also with a bar in the back.

People

All ages of people are present at Pogłos, it just depends on the type of event, the day of the week, or the time of day when you will see certain groups of people. An even split between genders and identities can be observed.

The way people present themselves is eclectic.

Above is a small sign with the Pogłos logo on it, which can be found next to the entrance door.

Above is a picture of the exterior of the building. It’s relatively worn looking with paint peeling off the exterior and graffiti sprayed on the canopy.

The image above is of the lounge in the basement of the building. This room can be characterized as being very dark and grungy.

“I am a singer. Pogłos is one of very few places in this city where I can play a concert, listen to interesting artists, and come into contact with an ambitiously independent culture. These kinds of autonomous places need to be protected. Without it, Warsaw will become a cultural desert, built up by developers. A city like this has no future.”[1] (Małgorzata P.)

Młodsza Siostra

Queer Allied Business Restaurant + Bar + Music Venue + Event Space

Młodsza

Siostra directly translates to younger sister in English. This space is the younger sister of a previously popular Warsaw establishment called Eufemia. Młodsza Siostra continues this tradition by forging a very highly-regarded space by word-of-mouth. If you visit, you’ll find a vast outdoor seating area, all types of events from drag shows to concerts, and delicious vegan Asian eats. Michał Grochowiak, professional photographer and artist turned business entrepreneur, speaks with me about the design of Młodsza Siostra and the evolution of club-cafes in Poland.

Interview with Michał Grochowiak:

Q: What is your name and what is your role at Młodsza Siostra?

A: My name is Michal Grochowiak and I am the owner and founder of Młodsza Siostra.

Q: What year did this space open?

A: We have been operating in this space since 2018, so for four years.

Q: Is this the first iteration of Młodsza Siostra?

A: This is the second iteration. We are called Młodsza Siostra (Younger Sister) because this space is the younger sister of a bar called Eufemia that I used to manage near the Academy of Fine Arts. I managed it for 7 years prior to 2018; it’s a 15-minute walk from here.

Q: How do people find out about Młodsza Siostra?

A: Mostly through word-of-mouth. We aren’t advertising as much on social media anymore, and we don’t have any large signage or aggressive marketing. We are also pretty hidden and tucked away from the neighborhood, so chances are random passersby will not notice our space–we want it this way.

Q: Can you describe to me the design of the space?

A: These kinds of places, alternative cultural places, have a lot to do with finding an inexpensive place to exist in. Everything is designed and put together in as low-cost of a way as possible. Our furniture and decor is mostly second-hand. Myself along with the kitchen manager and the bar manager, did 90% of the remodel. We tried to limit creating waste as much as possible. We are renting this space in a tenancy-at-will situation, so we have no set lease term and our landlord could ask us to vacate at any time. For this reason, we are reluctant to spend a lot of money to renovate the space. Before us, there was a ceramics studio in our music venue space and a bar in the larger lounge area–we acquired both these spaces for Młodsza Siostra. This concept that we have, which links a restaurant, coffee shop, bar, and club together is fairly new to Poland. They are typically called club-cafes. These places just started to exist about 10 years ago. These are spaces which you can regularly find in Spain or Italy, but Polish culture is just now catching onto it.

Q: Is there a reason why you’re located in this particular spot?

A: It’s completely by accident. For an entire year after we closed the last location, we were looking for a new spot to open in. I wanted the new space to be downtown or close to downtown, within my budget, and have at least two larger indoor spaces and an outdoor patio. I also wanted the space to be tucked away from the street so that we wouldn’t have any problems with neighboring businesses. Of course, if we had looked for a space outside of downtown I’m sure it would’ve been a lot cheaper, but it wouldn’t have been as accessible to everyone.

Source: Instagram, Młodsza Siostra

Q: With so much outdoor space, how does your environment change from summer to winter?

A: It’s important for us to have a lot of outdoor space, because we have a narrow window of time where the weather is warm. Everyone goes outside once it gets above a certain temperature. During the winter, people tend to stay indoors. This is something that’s prevalent across Poland.

Q: What is the biggest difference between Młodsza Siostra and Eufemia?

A: Eufemia had an underground space that we could use for louder events such as parties or concerts that could carry on much later into the night. In this space, we have to keep our noise to a minimum after 10pm due to our proximity to apartment buildings. We need to make sure that we are in good standing with our neighbors because we are very reliant on them. For example, I just had to submit paperwork to get our liquor license updated, and the city checked if there were any complaints filed against us.

Q: What types of people and what age groups frequent this space?

A: People between the ages of 19 and 40 mostly. Our core business comes from people in their 20’s.

Q: Have you ever experienced queerphobic attacks or vandalism in Młodsza Siostra?

A: Nothing serious has happened, but in our bathroom people will sometimes write horrible things on the walls that we try to erase afterwards. It’s happened only once or twice where a couple of people have gotten into a fight or an argument, but this just comes with the territory of running a bar and serving alcohol. When people get drunk, they lose their self control. At our last location, we had two men who served as security but we decided against hiring security at this location, because we feel that having a visible presence of security would alter the positive dynamic and environment of our space.

Q: Can you tell me how you cultivate a community gathering space in Młodsza Siostra?

A: I think there are two ways we create community, one is by the vibe of our space being free and open, and the other is by the events and concerts that occur here, representing diverse audiences. We allow anyone to pitch an idea for an event or a concert. Concerts range from 20-year-olds who’ve hardly released any music to well known jazz musicians.

Q: Why do queer people frequent this space?

A: For one thing, we have queer events. A lot of our staff are members of the LGBTQ+ community and so I think again it's word-of-mouth promotion. People can also sense that our space is a chill and friendly space. There was talk among us at the beginning as to whether or not we should put up a sign that denotes that we are a queer safe space, but we decided against it. I don’t think it’s necessary, a safe space will happen naturally on its own.

Q: Are there any additional events or spaces you wish you had in here?

A: I think things are fine the way they are right now. I know a lot of similar spaces in Warsaw have much larger music venues that can attract larger audiences, but I don’t want to follow what everyone else is doing.

Q: In your own words, how would you define a queer safe space?

A: A space where you feel good–a space where you hear from other queer people that it’s safe. You see that nothing bad is happening, you see a diverse crowd of people, and everyone is having fun.

Q: Do you think that Warsaw is starting to become more welcoming towards LGBTQ+ people?

A: I think so. A big measure of this for me is the Warsaw Equality March. I attended the first march in 2001 because I was filming a documentary about the founder of the parade; there were only 300 people then. Now the parade is massive–this year there were more than 80,000 people in attendance.

Q: Do you wish to see queer space more integrated into Polish society?

A: Of course, but we have a lot of work to do to become better integrated into society. The one thing that’s missing in Poland that’s more prevalent in countries like Spain and Italy is that we don’t have a culture of older people socializing over a glass of wine or beer later at night. I think this has a lot to do with communism in Poland where people simply didn’t have the money to go out–people were just trying to survive for so long. Older people who come here are often surprised by how much our culture has changed in such a short amount of time.

Q: Why are there not more queer-friendly and queer places on the other side of the Wisła River?

A: I think in the case of the Praga neighborhood, it has to do with the fact that the area is still redeveloping from its industrial past, and it’s finding its identity. It’s also harder to get to places like Praga, especially when you don’t have a car. A lot of the establishments in these areas are very local and cater only to the people who live immediately around them.

Above

Exterior Design

The space is hidden and obscured from the street (Dobra Street), but not intentionally. To enter, you have to open a gate and descend down an outdoor stair.

The outdoor seating is located adjacent to a residential parking area.

The space as a whole is located on the ground floor of a two story building. There are lots of windows, with all of them being open to the patio.

People

The people who frequent this place are mostly in their 20’s and 30’s. They are both queer and non-queer. A few people speak languages other than Polish, such as Ukrainian and Russian.

On a typical night during the summer, the patio is buzzing with activity, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. People sit wherever they can, in chairs or just on the pavement in the adjacent parking lot.

is the entry condition which is where you must open the gate and descend down an exterior stair to arrive upon Młodsza Siostra.

This is the rather large and sprawling outdoor seating area. There is probably just as much seating outside as there is inside.

This is the bar area and the main indoor lounge space. This is where you can order food and drinks.

Interior Design

The interior has an industrial minimalist feel with exposed structure and simple, easily removable furniture in both exterior and interior seating areas. I would say the interior relates well to its exterior.

There is also little indication that this is a queer space on the inside.

There are stickers around the restaurant–and in the bathroom especially–that point people to prominent LGBTQ+ organizations in Warsaw and also safe abortion services. Some of these organizations include: Fem Fund, Miłość Nie Wyklucza, Stop Bzdurom, and Parada Równości.

These are some of the stickers that you’ll find in the bathroom. They advertise everything from personal projects to organizations.

This is the music venue space. It’s relatively small compared to other venues in the city, but this is intentional, it creates an intimate atmosphere.

Above is another picture of the outdoor seating area looking in the opposite direction from the picture before.

Margines Barber

Queer Business

Barbershop + Cafe

Conversation with Tim Valther:

Tim is the owner of Margines. He is a Belarusian-Polish trans man living in Warsaw who opened the salon in September 2020. He started the salon due to the fact that gender nonconforming people often get turned away from barber shops and hair salons in Poland–which he himself has experienced along his journey transitioning from female to male. He says that if you’re a male-presenting person wanting a female hair style or a female-presenting person wanting a male hairstyle– this will often not go over well at a traditional barber shop in Poland. He’s breaking down the traditional typology of a hypermasculine barber shop with this queer barber shop concept. He retains a sort of traditional barber shop logo with a simple face silhouette and the name “Margines Barber” around it.

Tim says this is a space for anyone and everyone to come in–even straight people frequent it. Because of the traditional logo on Jasna street, sometimes straight people come in without knowing that it’s a queer space. Either they are offended and leave, or they don’t have a problem with it. This happened when I was there, a straight man came in without an appointment to get his beard trimmed. Because he was heading to a date and was in a rush, I let him go before me. Since most of the business comes from social media, or by word-of-mouth, having this signage on Jasna Street is important for business visibility. Tim says they had to go through an arduous process to get that sign approved by the city and hung up–but it’s bringing customers in.

Tim says that luckily there’s never been an occurrence of violence or threats in the salon. The location of the salon is hidden from Jasna street in an alley, but not necessarily because it needs to be hidden due to potential threats from the general public. Tim said that when he was scouting locations for the barber shop, he needed to find a place that was affordable enough, in downtown Warsaw (since this is where most of the clientele are located), and large enough to have space for multiple hair salon stations. He arrived at this particular location, which is located in a back alley, adjacent to two fairly major streets. I presume that back alley locations are a lot cheaper than street or window storefronts, especially in the downtown Warsaw area.

More than just a hair salon–this is a community gathering space–for patrons to have a coffee, have a conversation, and meet new people.

Source: Facebook, Margines barbershop