A deeply Catholic country, Poland has long been a fraught place for LGBTQ people. But in 2015, when President Andrzej Duda was elected, anti-LGBTQ sentiments increased amid hate campaigns that made queer people a national boogeyman. In 2019, nearly 100 local councils in Poland declared themselves “LGBT-free zones,” places where authorities claimed there was not “LGBT ideology.” (Three councils have since repealed that decision.)
But Lambda Warszawa, established in 1997, has been an asylum for Polish LGBTQ people — a place where those in crisis or being targeted for their gender or sexuality could find support and resources. Now, as Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russian attacks in their home country pour over the Polish border, Lambda Warszawa has expanded their scope. In addition to supporting the Polish LGBTQ community, the organization is helping LGBTQ Ukrainians as they flee to a country hostile to their rights, offering safe haven, counseling, and overarching support.
As I stepped into Lambda’s office for the first time, I saw posters that marked the connection between Polish and Ukrainian LGBTQ identity. I wondered how the past seven years of mounting anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and laws had affected this office and the people that work here. Even before the war, the union between the LGBTQ community in Ukraine and Poland was strong. There were flags and posters pinned to the walls commemorating that relationship, that had been put there long before Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
But it would have to be stronger now than ever. Milosz Przepiorkowski, a Lambda board member, gave me some insight into how the organizations is helping LGBTQ Ukrainians fleeing to Warsaw. Below is our conversation:
Jonathan Frydman: When did Lambda Warszawa decide to help refugees?
Milosz Przepiorkowski: War started on February 24th, by February 25th we already knew that we had to do something because, as Lambda Warsaw, we are a support organization and we knew immediately that support was needed. So, on February 28th, we launched our help center for LGBTQIA refugees from Ukraine. We are helping all kinds of refugees — not only Ukrainians, although they are the focus right now. You have Russian people, Kazakhs, and Belarusians who are all fleeing their homes.
JF: What exactly is Lambda Warsaw doing to help these refugees?
MP: First, we created a database of flats where people can stay. Now, we have over 500 people who are willing to help house people. We have psychological support, both individual and group psychological support in the Ukrainian language. We have legal advice for refugees, we have Polish lessons, we have an emergency shelter where people can stay for two [or] three nights until we find something for longer term. We also help them find a job — just to list a few ways in which we help.
JF: How were you able to set this help so quickly?
MP: It was 25 years of experience prior to this war. Of course, [the invasion] was a surprise, but we had a huge meeting February 27th, on a Sunday. There were around 30 people in the room and we were talking and collecting ideas [about] what we could do, how we could do it. So in some ways we were preparing in advance. Thanks to international grants we managed to do so many things.
JF: Is there anything with the Ukrainians coming in that strikes you most?
MP: What strikes me are the real life stories. For example, someone tells me that they only have a backpack because there were bombs flying around and they were running away. Then there were people who were in a bunker for one week and when they left the bunker, they saw dead bodies in the streets — that's striking.
And I think every individual story is striking because these are people who had a life — sometimes a good life, sometimes not so good — but they were at home and now they had to flee to another country, [one] which is also not LGBT friendly.
JF: Do they talk about how your warm reception in this country that isn't friendly to LGBTQ people has helped them?
MP: You know, in the beginning they are shocked, so they don't have much to say. But they come back because we have Polish lessons for them, we have psychological advice. So first we find them a place to stay and then we welcome them back, because they always come back for psychological support, for the Polish lessons, [or] sometimes just even to sit in this room and drink coffee. So they have a place where they can come, they can talk to someone or they can simply sit down, switch off.
JF: Beautiful under such horrific circumstances.
MP: It is. And this is also what I think that in this horrible time, we can create something that is really helpful. And this is realistic, helping. It's not just patting someone and saying, “yeah, everything will be okay,” but it's really helping those people to start, eventually, a new life in Poland.
JF: But you had also been helping long before this war. Right?
MP: Yes, we were always a support organization. We had a helpline which operated every day from 6 until 9 p.m. Now, we also managed to create a helpline in Ukrainian every day from 2 to 4. This is because I think it’s important for people to have access to psychological support. And, this is cute and funny — sometimes people call and say “Oh I found your number. I’m not LGBT but maybe you can tell me where’s a good, cheap place to eat in Warsaw?” It’s not only a helpline but an information center. This is what some people do, they call just because they need to talk to someone in Ukrainian. They just need to talk, you know? We also have shelter for LGBTQ people who have faced the trauma of being homeless. But to go back to the question, our operations that were ongoing before the war continue as usual. We just have three times the work.
JF: What is your organization looking to do in the upcoming weeks? months? years?
MP: Well, we are hoping that we are being realistic, but still, we are obviously hoping that war will end. And then we will not only have a help center, but maybe a community center for the refugee community, who want to not be refugees anymore, but instead want to stay in Poland. They will have a place to stay [here]. And … Lambda was always a support organization. We have meeting groups, we have psychological and legal advice, and so on. We also have the shelter for LGBTQ people who have faced the trauma of being homeless.
JF: How can people continue to support this organization?
MP: They can support us directly through our lambdawarszawa.org. We also have [Facebook] fundraisers, so there are many ways to support us.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Let us slide into your DMs. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email.
Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out:
