Elżbieta Podleśna (; born ),
CNN, Paul P. Murphy and Antonia Mortensen, 7 May 2019 also known as Elzbieta Podlesna, is a Polish

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

activist.LGBT Virgin Mary triggers Polish activist's detention
BBC, 14 May 2019 She was a leading person in the Polish Women's Strike protests in 2017 and 2018. She has also worked as a

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

Personal

Podleśna lives in

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 ...

. While not a practicing Catholic, she believes in God.

Activism

In 2017, she was one of the leading activists in Polish Women's Strike.Solidarity according to Polish women in 2017
Irma Allen,

Eurozine ''Eurozine '' is a network of European cultural magazines based in Vienna, linking up more than 90 partner journals and just as many associated magazines and institutions from nearly all European countries. ''Eurozine'' is also an online magazine ...

, 16 August 2017 Speaking on why she demonstrates against fascist groups, Podleśna said: In November 2017, she was one of 14 women who attempted to stop the Polish independence day march in Warsaw. She was forcibly removed, and suffered spinal injuries forcing her to wear a medical corset. In July 2018, she sprayed " PZPR" on the windows of the parliamentary office of in

Wąbrzeźno Wąbrzeźno (german: Briesen) is a town in Poland, in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, about northeast of Toruń. It is the capital of the Wąbrzeźno County. The population is 13,971 inhabitants (2004). History Along with Chełmno Land ...

, as well as political offices in

Golub-Dobrzyń Golub-Dobrzyń () is a town in northern Poland, located on the Drwęca. Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999), it was previously in the Torun Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Golub-Dobrzyń County and has a po ...

.Elżbieta Podleśna in court for the inscriptions "PZPR" at the offices of PiS politicians? Victims do not agree to conditional remission
20 March 2019, Nowości Dziennik Toruński, MAŁGORZATA OBERLAN On the street before the offices she spray painted "Time for judgement". Podleśna said she acted since she was terrified by the actions of the

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

(PiS) party and the changes to the state system in Poland. initially, Podleśna was charged with the crime of "promoting a totalitarian system" as well as vandalism, however the totalitarianism charge was dropped. At trial, she pleaded guilty to the vandalism charge.

Rainbow Madonna

02019 0356 (3) Marsz Równości w Częstochowie

In late April 2019, Podleśna placed images of

Black Madonna of Częstochowa The Black Madonna of Częstochowa ( pl, Czarna Madonna / Matka Boska Częstochowska; la, Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae Conceptae, in Claro Monte, lit=Miraculous Image of the Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary ...

, with a

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

halo, in

Płock Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to the ...

, including on the private territory of a church to protest an Easter display by the Catholic church that featured

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 ...

and

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

as sins. In garbage cans throughout town she placed a list of bishops who allegedly protected priests accused of sexual abuses. Speaking of her motivation, Podleśna said: In May 2019, after she returned from an

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

advocacy tour, she was arrested by police at 6 in the morning and had her apartment searched. At the police station, she was charged with

offending religious feelings Offending religious feelings ( pl, Obraza uczuć religijnych) is a blasphemy law in Poland. According to Article 196 of the Penal Code: "Whoever offends the religious feelings of other persons by publicly insulting an object of religious worship, ...

, a crime punishable with up to two years in prison, for profanation of the image. The arrest was condemned by

and the Polish

Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is the name of non-governmental organizations in a number of countries established under the now defunct International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. The organizations include: * *Turkmen Helsinki F ...

. While the names of suspects are redacted under Polish law until the conclusion of proceedings, Podleśna revealed her name to the media. Podleśna said she received death threats for her protest in Płock. According to Gabriela Rogowska, the arrest of Podleśna was designed to discourage further activity.

Joachim Brudziński Joachim Stanisław Brudziński (born 4 February 1968 in Świerklaniec) is a Polish conservative politician. He was elected (first time) to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 14,731 votes in 41 Szczecin district as a candidate from the Praw ...

, the Polish Interior Minister and PiS party member, praised the arrest saying Podleśna's protest involved "the desecration of the image of Our Lady, which has been considered sacred by Poles for centuries". The Płock court ruled the arrest was legal, though unreasonable. Following the events, the

US Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

asked for permission to sell T-shirts bearing the Rainbow Madonna with proceeds allocated to the Polish

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

community.The American Episcopal Church sells T-shirts with the Holy Mother of God
Queer.pl, 19 June 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Podlesna, Elzbieta Living people Polish psychologists Polish women psychologists Former Roman Catholics People in health professions from Warsaw Year of birth missing (living people) Polish LGBT rights activists Offending religious feelings Polish women activists