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Poland, 1 Dec 2010 - A date of first hearing has been established by the District Court in Warsaw in the case of gay activists from Open Forum Association (Otwarte Forum) against the editors of one of the most popular daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita.

In June 2009 Rzeczpospolita printed a drawing by a well known Polish cartoonist showing a background a gay couple during a wedding ceremony, while in the foreground a man says to a goat on a leash: ‘We will get married after the two gentlemen are done’. This appeared as a comment of Rzeczpospolita to Pride Parade, during which for the first time in Poland the postulate of legalization of same-sex unions had been issued. A couple of other homophobic comments followed.

The plaintiffs demanded apologies from the chief editor of the paper. The paper refused and based its position on freedom of expression, especially freedom of press. They also stressed the ‘comic’ nature of the cartoon. The claim of violation of dignity has been filed with the court with the support from different NGOs – including the. Polish Society for Anti-discrimination Law (PTPA), Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH) and Diversity Workshop Association (SPR). The first hearing has been scheduled for 15 February 2011.

(Source: equal-jus.eu)