I have never seen Poland as gay friendly. Maybe because I connect the country with it’s Communist past and more recently the Law and order party. But have I been wrong?
But my last visit to Poland and Poznan made me change my mind. First of al, most profiles on the dating app Grindr had face pictures. This is in general a good sign. People who fair prosecution or social stigma usually don’t show their face. So at least there was some kind of community that was strong enough to make people feel safe.
Rainbow flags makes Poland feel gay friendly
The second sign that Poland have changed and now is gay friendly was when I noticed rainbow flag on different places. A bar, outside the theater or a rainbow unicorn outside a café. It’s small signs, but they tell a lot to the queer traveler. Seeing the rainbow flag shows that their are other like you and that they will support you. Its also a great way for the queer travelers to know where they should spend their pink zloty.
A queer flag parade on the main street
And where can we spend our hard earned pink zloty better then in a bar. With al my prejudices about Poland and with a very shy gay community in lets say Katowice I was surprised to see a queer flag parade on the main shopping street. It was the very proud Q HAH Cocktail Bar who showed that Poland is truly gay friendly. Of course I needed to make a quick stop and from what I could see it was a cocktail bar for twinks and younger lesbian. Me aged 51 was definitely not their main target group. But as the queer scene is known for I was greeted with warm smile. However as married and with no interests in twinks I was sone back at the hotel. But thats not the point..
A gay friendly Poland is emerging
In Katowice I didn’t see any gay scene at al. In Krakow some years ago I did not see a gay scene. But I did see stickers saying gay customers welcome. This was during the era of Law and order party and their homophobic ideas about gay free zones. Maybe it’s because Poznan is a little more west, or a bigger city or time have changed. But with the opened gay scene in Poznan and the pride they showed their flags I can honestly say that Poland is gay friendly. Or at least Poznan is it for sure. The last proof I got was that ther IBIS/Novotel Poznan city have a queer friendly commercial in their elevator. Something I think would be unthinkable at IBIS Budget in Katowice. Both IBIS, IBIS Budget and Novotel is al owned by ACCOR. So it’s not a question of gay friendly or not. But the atmosphere in Katowice was just so not gay.
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