Mirosława Makuchowska (also: ''Mirka Makuchowska'') is a Polish LGBT rights activist. In 2020 she became a founding member of the Consultative Council created on 1 November 2020 in the context of the

October 2020 Polish protests October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôctō'' meaning "eight") after January ...

Childhood and education

Makuchowska graduated in sociology from the

University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...

Activism

Makuchowska has been a member of the LGBT rights organisation

Campaign Against Homophobia Campaign Against Homophobia (, KPH) is a Polish LGBTQ rights organisation, which aims to promote legal and social equality for people outside of heteronormativity, heteronormality. It was founded in Warsaw in September 2001. It has local branche ...

(KPH) since 2005. She has been one of the directors of KPH since 2013 or earlier and continued in the role . During 2012–2014 she was on the board of

ILGA-Europe ILGA-Europe is the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World). It is an advocacy group promoting the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, at the Eur ...

. In 2013, when proposed legislation for civil unions for LGBT couples was rejected, Makuchowska stated that there was strong popular support for individual LGBT couples' rights, including the right to information about one's partner's health when hospitalised, inheritance rights and right to manage one's partner's funeral arrangements. In December 2018 during an

meeting in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, stated that Polish schools had been forced by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

to cancel school activities aimed at promoting tolerance. Makuchowska said that the use of

hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...

in relation to sexual preferences increased during the rule of the governing party

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...

(PiS), encouraging the use of anti-LGBT physical violence such as throwing stones. In 2019, Makuchowska criticised the declaration by several Polish local governments of LGBT-free zones, which sent a "disturbing message" to local citizens. She described PiS politicians' opposition to LGBT rights as a campaigning technique similar to its 2015 opposition to refugee rights. During the

2020 Polish presidential election Presidential elections were held in Poland on 28 June 2020. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held on 12 July, in which incumbent president Andrzej Duda, running with the support of the incumbent government of t ...

campaigning period, Makuchowska stated that

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as the sixth president of Poland since 2015. Before becoming president, he served as a Member of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014 and before becoming Member of ...

, the incumbent president, used

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

as a scapegoat to try to gain votes and that physical violence against LGBT people increased in response. Makuchowska participated in the August 2020 LGBT protests in Warsaw related to the arrest of ''Stop Bzdurom'' founder Małgorzata Szutowicz. Makuchowska's back was bruised when she was pushed to the ground by police during the event. She judged that community support for LGBT rights was growing in Poland at time.

Constitutional Council

Makuchowska became a founding member of the Consultative Council created on 1 November 2020 in the context of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makuchowska, Miroslawa Living people Polish LGBTQ rights activists Polish women activists University of Wrocław alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Women civil rights activists