Gay Today: World

Polish Gay Files
Have Not Been Destroyed

By Rex Wockner
International News Report

Communist-era police files on Polish homosexuals have yet to be destroyed despite police reports to the contrary, activists said last week.

"These archives still exist and are being used even now," said Slawek Starosta of Warsaw's gay-pride committee.

"During the rule of the communist regime, People's Militia activity was not limited to fighting crime; it focused mainly on investigation of Polish citizens and gathering materials that could be used for blackmailing the opposition and convincing its representatives to collaborate with the government. Materials on homosexual activities were especially appreciated."

In the early 1990s, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said the gay files and other files on Poles' personal lives had been destroyed. But information from the files recently turned up during a political inquiry.

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Gay groups have written the president, the prime minister and the head of parliament demanding the documents' immediate destruction.