Polish Far Right Emboldened by Ruling Party Propaganda

A group of men standing nearby overheard him expressing his disgust. The couple rode on, but one of the men later caught up with them and asked Witkowski whether he liked the graffiti. He said no. The man broke his nose.

Witkowski sees the July 25 attack as a sign of the times given a steady drumbeat of anti-LGBT propaganda from Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in recent months.

"What happened to me is because the Polish government — following in the footsteps of Russia — is trying to focus the attention of people on this artificial and completely idiotic idea that LGBT people are predators, likely paedophiles and posing a threat to the traditional family," he said.

"This kind of language, like on the graffiti, is officially accepted in Poland and it is used by people in the governing party."

Witkowski on the day he was attacked. Photo courtesy of Przemyslaw Witkowski

Rights activists agree that a growing chorus of inflammatory rhetoric from PiS has helped fuel homophobic violence across Poland, including scenes of mayhem during the first-ever equality parade in the northeastern city of Bialystok earlier this month.

In Bialystok, around 1,000 marchers faced hundreds of protestors chanting homophobic slogans and throwing firecrackers, rocks and bottles. Police fired tear gas and arrested 77 people.

Jacek Dehnel, a 39-year-old poet, recalled how he took refuge in a pharmacy to escape the melee.

"Outside the windows, we see bandits running all the time," he wrote in a Facebook post that was widely quoted by local and international media.

"Someone is being beaten again. Another bandit passes by holding a burning rainbow flag […] Everybody is trying to camouflage themselves, taking off rainbow...