Poland’s children’s rights commissioner orders inspection of LGBT-friendly schools

Poland’s commissioner for children’s rights has announced an inspection of schools that were recently ranked as the most LGBT-friendly in the country.

Mikołaj Pawlak justified his decision by saying that “children must be protected from criminals” and claiming that “principals often do not check their employees against the register of paedophiles”.

Earlier this month, the fifth annual Ranking of LGBTQ+-friendly Schools was published, with Collegium Gedanense high school in Gdańsk coming top. Among the honorary patrons of the ranking are the European Commission and the mayors of Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław, Łódź, Gdańsk and Świdnica.

The day it was released, Pawlak, speaking at a congress titled “Church, Education, Upbringing” organised by the Europa Christi Movement under the honorary patronage of education minister Prezmysław Czarnek, commented on the ranking.

“Today a report on a ranking of pseudo-rainbow-friendly schools appeared in one of the newspapers that is becoming German-speaking,” said Pawlak, an official appointed by the conservative government’s majority in parliament. Figures in the ruling camp often refer to opposition-friendly media as being “German”.

“There are allegedly 2,000 [such] schools,” he continued. “I can assure you, Minister [Czarnek], and all of you [here] that I will begin in May with an inspection of the first 10 or 20 schools.”

The inspections would ascertain “what this [LGBT] friendliness looks like, how it manifests itself”, said Pawlak, who noted that “of course, Warsaw schools are in the lead” in the ranking. Warsaw is one of Poland’s most liberal cities and its mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, is a leading opposition figure and supporter of LGBT rights.

The comments were made on 10 May but have only come to light in recent days. In an interview for newspaper Gazeta Polska Codziennie published this week, Pawlak confirmed that such inspections will take place, though he added that it was routine to check schools to ensure no crimes are taking place.

“Unfortunately, in many cases, it turns out that principals or other institutions do not check their employees against the register of paedophiles,” he told the newspaper. “We must protect children from criminals and such verification is one of the important tools that should be used.”

“It is often precisely in these foundations that consider themselves to be the most tolerant that various irregularities occur,” he added, in a presumed reference to NGOs that offer workshops on LGBT issues in schools.

In 2020, Pawlak claimed that sex educators try to give children sex-change drugs, and claimed one such case occurred in Poznań. However, the local authorities there noted that no such incident had ever been recorded. Pawlak never provided any evidence to support his claim.

The coordinator of the LGBT-friendly schools ranking, Dominik Kuc, told broadcaster TVN24 that he was surprised and disheartened by Pawlak’s remarks. “The children’s rights commissioner should support young people in feeling safe”, which is the purpose of the ranking, said Kuc.

“For us, this is intimidation of students, teachers and, above all, principals, who put a lot of effort into building a safe and open atmosphere for everyone,” he added. Kuc also noted that the ranking is not decided by his organisation, but is based on the votes of students themselves.

Kuc said that his organisation would publish a legal guide this Friday for schools facing inspections.

Meanwhile, politician and LGBT rights activist Robert Biedroń comments on Pawlak’s remarks by tweeting sarcastically, “Ah, that’s why he didn’t have time to work on improving the system for preventing domestic child abuse” – a reference to the recent death of an 8-year-old child at the hands of his stepfather.

On Saturday, activists from Sovereign Poland (Suwerenna Polska), one of the parties that makes up Poland’s ruling national-conservative coalition, held a protest outside one of the schools that appeared in the top 10 of the LGBT-friendly ranking.

Figures from the party in the city of Kędzierzyn-Koźle held signs saying “No to LGBT in schools” and “Stop the moral corruption of children”.

Last year, Czarnek, an outspoken critic of what he and the government call “LGBT ideology”, criticised principals who are “irresponsible” enough to allow “Rainbow Friday”, an annual event in support of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people, to be held in their schools.

However, in an interview with local news outlet KK24, the school’s principal, Małgorzata Targosz, said that she was “very proud” of their position in the ranking. It “shows that young people feel safe at school”, which is a vital condition for learning and development, she explained.

Main image credit: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.