Poland Makes History by electing its first female parliamentary speaker and seats its first gay and transsexual members
Czarek Sokolowski/AP
Anna Grodzka, center, became the first transsexual lawmaker to be seated in Poland on Tuesday.NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
The Polish parliament took on a new look Tuesday when it elected its first female speaker, swore in its first openly gay member — and seated its first transsexual legislator.
Anna Grodzka, who was born Krzysztof Begowski before undergoing a sex-change operation, was greeted with hearty applause as she entered the chamber dressed in a burgundy outfit.
“It is a symbolic moment, but we owe this symbolism not to me but to the people of Poland because they made their choice," Grodzka, 57, told The Associated Press. “They wanted a modern Poland, a Poland open to variety, a Poland where all people would feel good regardless of their differences.”
Grodzka, who was once married and fathered a son, had the operation that made her a woman in Thailand just 18 months ago. She was seated beside Robert Biedron, 35, a longtime Gay rights activist.
Both belong to the progressive Palikot Movement, which stunned many in this conservative Catholic country by winning enough local elections last month to become the third-largest party in parliament.
The Palikot Movement promotes gay rights, wants to overturn Poland’s almost total ban on abortion, and wants to keep the powerful Catholic Church out of politics.
Several high-ranking Catholic clergymen were looking on from the gallery when Grodzka and Biedron were seated. So was Solidarity hero Lech Walesa.
Poland’s new parliament speaker is Ewa Kopacz, 54, a doctor who was the country’s health minister.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
Comments