There are those individuals who wait for things to change and or happen. Sadly, too many among us who share these sentiments. The history of man shows us that neither freedom, independence nor equality is given by the oppressors – they oftentimes must be taken. The natural state of man is his freedom and history bears proof the lengths one would go to regain it if it is denied or taken away. Szymon Niemiec of Poland faced down oppressive conservative governments, neo-Nazi’s, physical attacks, Molotov cocktails thrown at his apartment and two assassination attempts as investigated by Warsaw police. His perceived transgression against Polish society is being born homosexual. Szymon came-out in 1998 and he was unofficially christened the poster boy of the gay movement by the media. There were no “public” activists prior to this. During his struggles and sacrifices he never imaged he would be forced to also defend himself against "family."
Very little if anything is known or written about the Polish gay movement in western countries. Today, Polish homosexuals still have emotional scars and fears within their minds because of the the infamous “Hyacinth Action” by Poland’s’ secret police. In 1985 the police arrested, interrogated, beat, intimidated, finger printed, and incarcerated an estimated 13,000 suspected homosexuals. The “Pink “ files created on detainees remain in circulation of the Polish authorities to date. They were not destroyed although formal requests to do so were made by international human rights activists and via petitions by Szymon Niemiec and Jacek Adler in 2007. Read here.
Szymon began his activism in 1998 sensing the need for community organization established "ILGCN Polska" a chartered non-profit in 2000. The following year, 2001 his association founded Poland's first "Equality Parade." The groups mission was to unite Polish minorities into a stronger political presence with the message of tolerance. The fledgling GLBT association and its annual parade evolved enlarging as the years passed.
There are four registered GLBT nongovernmental associations in Poland; Lambda Warsaw (est.1997,) ILGCN Polska (est. 2000,) Campaign Against Homophobia (est. 2001) and Equality Foundation (est. 2005.) Prior to 2004 and Poland’s entry into the European Union there was very little funding available for social movements. In 2005 the European Union’s parliament endowed Poland’s government with public grants to be disbursed among social associations for projects. The new funding created some problems for the gay movement as we’ve previously outlined; at the forefront were unscrupulous individual aims of personal enrichment. Szymon Niemiec's missions remained focused on helping those voiceless within Poland.
The "Friends of Szymon Foundation" was created to assist with financial needs of Szymon's organizations activities. It is a registered tax-deductible organization established by his American friends.
We hope that many people become exposed to Szymon's efforts and projects and that they too deem his endeavors worthy of lifting-up especially his quest for equality and basic human rights for all his countrymen.