Andrzej Selerowicz (born 25 April 1948) is a Polish-born Austrian

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist, writer and literature translator from the English and German languages into the Polish language.

Life and career

Since 1976 he has been living in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. He is a member of the LGBT organisation ''Homosexuelle Initiative Wien'' (HOSI Wien). Since 1982, he has been the chairman of EEIP (Eastern Europe Information Pool), as part of ILGA. He has been responsible for collecting and archiving an open, official, and accessible collection of media and publication sources about the situation of gays and lesbians in Eastern Europe until 1989. In 1984 he published a monograph about his research: * (1984) ''Rosa Liebe unter dem Roten Stern: zur Lage d. Lesben u. Schwulen in Osteuropa'', Published by: Frühlings Erwachen in Hamburg, Since 1983, he has supported the creation and development of the Polish gay and lesbian movement. Beginning in 1983, he started writing and spreading information among Polish gays with an illegal newsletter entitled ''Etap'', which later gave the name to the first LGBT clandestine group in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

. In a 1984 edition, he first used the term ''gej'' in order to create a neutral sounding Polish substitution for ''homosexual'' to substitute for the many derogatory words that existed. Since then it has been a broadly accepted term in the Polish language. From 1987 to 1988 he was a consultant for the Warszawski Ruch Homoseksualny ( Warsaw Gay Movement). As there were no books about being LGBT, and the issue was completely taboo in Polish media, he started translating and editing (from English and German) classical and well-known homoerotic literature (Wilde, Baldwin, etc.). Starting in 1990 he cooperated for 10 years with the editorial staff of the Polish magazine Inaczej in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

, regularly writing articles and essays. In Poland, he published books referring to LGBT themes: * (1993): ''Leksykon kochających inaczej. Fakty, daty, nazwiska'' (LGBT Lexicon- Facts, Dates, and Names), published by Wydawnictwo Softpress, Poznań, * (2017): ''Zbrodnia, której nie było'' (The Crime that Never Was), published by Wydawnictwo Novae Res, Gdynia, * (2018): ''Ariel znaczy lew'', published Wydawnictwo Novae Res, Gdynia, His participation in the Polish LGBT movement has been mentioned in: * (2012): ''Gejerel. Mniejszości seksualne w PRL-u'' (pages: 44, 350–351, 355, 370), author: Krzysztof Tomasik, published by Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej, Warsaw, * (2012): ''Kłopoty z seksem w PRL'' (chapter: ''Początki ruchu gejowskiego w Polsce 1981–1990''), co-authors leading: Marcin Kula, co-published by Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego and Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Warsaw, * (2017): ''Transnational Homosexuals in Communist Poland'' (pages: 67–69, 106, 138, 224, 232), author: Lukasz Szulc, published by Global Queer Politics, London, He translated these books into Polish: * (1990) Gore Vidal: ''The City and The Pillar'' ( pl: Nie oglądaj się w stronę Sodomy), published by Fundacja Polonia, * (1991)

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

: ''Giovanni's Room'' ( pl: Mój Giovanni), published by Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy,

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, * (1992)

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

: ''Teleny'', published by Wydawnictwo Softpress, Poznań, * (2011)

: ''Teleny'', published by Wydawnictwo Interwers, In 2000, he worked at the

Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW) was established in 1963. Its main topics deal with research concerning resistance and persecution from 1938 until 1945, exile, Nazi crimes, right-wing extremism after 1945, and victims' repara ...

archives in Vienna, where he collaborated in the research about the persecution by the German and Austrian Nazis and about bringing them to trial after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was also coauthor of research results published in 2009 in Austria. He took part in several scientific conferences in Austria, Germany and Poland about this topic and published several articles. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of

Operation Hyacinth Operation Hyacinth ( pl, Akcja "Hiacynt") was a secret mass operation of the Polish communist police, carried out in the years 1985–87. Its purpose was to create national database of all Polish homosexuals and people who were in touch with them,

, he published a novel, combining authentic historical facts with a fictional story, giving a focused picture of the interrogation of 11,000 gay men by the police and security agents in Poland from 1985 to 1987 and the resulting "pink files". It was published in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

: * (2015): ''Kryptonim Hiacynt'' (Codename Hyacinth), published by Queermedia.pl,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selerowicz, Andrzej 1948 births Living people Polish translators Austrian LGBT rights activists Polish LGBT rights activists People from Bełchatów