Looking at Pictures of Gay Men: Political Uses of Homophobia in Contemporary Poland

The essay examines the dynamics of the politicization of homophobia in the recent period of right-wing rule in Poland, which followed the country's 2004 EU accession. It argues that the question of sexuality became a boundary marker, a reference point for political self-definition and national pride. The essay looks at angry responses to the three resolutions against homophobia issued by the European parliament in this period, comments on the relevance of the gay/Jew analogy to Poland's debates on sexual tolerance, and examines an incident of March 2008, when Poland's president used images from a gay wedding in a speech meant to account for his skepticism about the EU. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler and Éric Fassin, the essay links these developments to a wider context of instrumentalization of sexual freedom in contemporary Europe (especially vis-à-vis Muslim minorities).