Portrait
Robert Biedroń
Born
13 April 1976Rymanów, Poland
Politician and activistPoland50th birthday

Robert Biedroń

Poland’s first openly gay member of parliament and first openly gay mayor – in a country where queer people faced fierce hostility.

Robert Biedroń grew up in Krosno in south-eastern Poland and studied political science in Olsztyn. After his studies he went to London and joined the activist group OutRage!. In 2001 he took part in the first Pride march in Poland and co-founded the Campaign Against Homophobia, which became one of the country’s most important LGBT organisations.

In 2011 he was elected to the Sejm for the Palikot Movement, the first openly gay member of the Polish parliament. He was physically attacked several times after his election. In 2014 he became mayor of Słupsk, a city of around 95,000 people, with 57 per cent of the vote – Poland’s first openly gay mayor. He reduced the city’s heavy debts, gave up his official car and placed a red sofa in public squares to talk with residents.

In 2019 he founded the party Wiosna (Spring), which campaigned for the separation of church and state, women’s rights and marriage equality, and he was elected to the European Parliament. He became one of the leaders of the Left alliance and ran for president of Poland in 2020. In the European Parliament he has chaired the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.

Biedroń lives with his partner Krzysztof Śmiszek, a lawyer, LGBT activist and member of the Sejm. He has spoken many times about growing up gay in a small Polish town and has written several books, including his autobiography.

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