31 May 2007

thou shall not parade

Neither Putt-Putt, nor Tinky-Winky will join the parade in Poland anymore. Unless, of course, they want to demonstrate zealously their commitment to the nation, catholic or family (only heterosexual) values. Why?

The Ministry of Culture has prepared a new bill project, which will enable the authorities to ban gatherings. The voivode will evaluate whether, for example, a feminist demonstration against abortion prohibition or a demonstration of sexual minorities against discrimination have the right to pass next to crosses, monuments etc.
http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/1545143,11,item.html

Given the amount of churches and monuments in Poland, this means that the new law is applicable virtually all over most major cities. And I've never yet seen a feminist demonstration in the middle of a wheat field. But why, you might ask, would some places be so special that one couldn't organize a demonstration there? And who is to decide which demonstrations are OK, and which not? Maybe not only LGBT and feminist, maybe also the annual Corpus Christi processions are banned from the cities as well? Here are all the answers:

At the moment the authorities can ban a [public] gathering only if it was against the law or could threaten the life or health of people or "excessively endanger the premises". The ministry wants to add to that "maintain the solemnity or the character of the site of commemoration"
http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/1545143,11,item.html
This could be traced back to the perplexing bill which protects "religious feelings" and places of worship. As if any other feelings or feelings of atheists (or, implicitly, people of other religion than Catholicism) are not as worthy of protecting. This time they want to go grand - whatever opinion one wants to present in public, he cannot do so, unless in a place designated by the "moral majority" or unless its the correct opinion.

What is worst about the newly proposed law, is its very subjective character:

The community authorities will designate the "sites of commemoration" and if
anyone would want to make a demonstration in the vicinity of such a place, then
the voivode could exercise his law to ban it on the ground that "the goal or the
course of the gathering may severely threaten maintaining the solemnity or the
character of the site of commemoration"
http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/1545143,11,item.html
Which basically means that the ban depends on the personal decision of someone not necessarily resistant to bias or political influence.

Is there still hope if Tinky changes his queer purple to papist yellow-and-white?

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