Robert Biedroń (; born 13 April 1976) is a Polish politician, former mayor of

Słupsk Słupsk (; , ; formerly german: Stolp, ; also known by several alternative names) is a city with powiat rights located on the Słupia River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland, in the historical region of Pomerania or more specifi ...

, and

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 i ...

activist who has been serving as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Commu ...

since 2019. Biedroń was a member of the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

during its 7th session (2011–2014). He's also a former member of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up ...

and the

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-six member states of the Council of Europe. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, imp ...

. He was mayor of

from 2014 to 2018. Biedroń launched a new political party called

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

in February 2019, and was elected a

on his party's list on 26 May 2019. He is one of the three leaders of The Left (''Lewica''), a political alliance founded to contest the 2019 parliamentary election composed of the

Democratic Left Alliance The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social-democratic political party in Poland. It was formed in 9 July 1991 as an electoral alliance of centre-left parties, and became a single party on 15 April 1999. It was the major coalition party in P ...

(SLD), Spring and the

Left Together Left Together () is a left-wing political party in Poland. It was formed in 2015 as "Together", and it was one of the eight nationwide committees standing in the 2015 parliamentary election. It was a member of the Progressive International, ...

(''Lewica Razem''). He ran as a candidate for president of Poland in the

2020 election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **Cro ...

and received 2.21 percent of all votes, making him the sixth most popular candidate.

Early life and education

Biedroń was born on 13 April 1976 in Rymanów, in

Podkarpackie Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it is ...

. He grew up in

Krosno Krosno (in full ''The Royal Free City of Krosno'', pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Krosno) is a historical town and county in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. The estimated population of the town is 47,140 inhabitants as of 2 ...

. Biedroń completed his secondary education in

Ustrzyki Dolne Ustrzyki Dolne (; yi, Istrik, uk, Устри́ки-Долі́шні, translit=Ustrýky-Dolíshni) is a town in south-eastern Poland, situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999) close to the border with Ukraine. It is the capital of B ...

. He received a bachelor in political science at the

University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn was established on 1 September 1999, in accordance with the new Statute of Sejm signed by Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, as well as Minister of Education Mirosław Handke, in August of ...

(2000). He received a master's degree in the same field in 2003. He also is a graduate of the School of Political and Social Leaders and the School of Human Rights at the Helsinki Human Rights Foundation. Biedroń speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

, French,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Activism

Biedroń has co-operated with Polish and international LGBT rights organizations for many years. Following his studies, he travelled to London and joined the British NGO OutRage!. Biedroń participated in the first Gay Pride ever organized in Poland on 1 May 2001. In September 2001, he co-founded the Polish Campaign Against Homophobia (''Kampania Przeciw Homofobii''). Biedroń's commitment to LGBT rights has been recognized several times: he received, for instance, the "Rainbow Laurels" in 2003 and was named "Rainbow Man" in 2004. Faithful to

Your Movement Your Movement ( pl, Twój Ruch, which can also be translated as ''Your Move'', TR) is a social liberal, populist and anti-clerical political party in Poland. The party was founded by Janusz Palikot, a former Civic Platform MP, in October 2 ...

's values, to social liberalism, secularism and a Europhile vision of the EU; he advocates for a separation of church and state in practice and not just in words, for the removal of catechism classes from public schools, he supports feminism (notably the right to abortion for all women), same-sex marriages in Poland, free access to contraception and sexual education. Biedroń founded the Institute for Democratic Thought (''Instytut Myśli Demokratycznej''), a progressive think-tank which conducted a program entitled ''Scenarios for Poland''. The Institute analysed the possible evolutions of the country in the next 20 years and formulated policy recommendations. Robert Biedroń has also built the ''Progressive Cities network – a platform of cities' cooperation and good practice exchange aimed at supporting local, progressive politics based on participatory democracy, transparency and an open local community. Biedroń is the author of several books, notably a handbook on the functioning of a democracy for children ''Turn Democracy On'' (''Włącz Demokrację''), his autobiography ''Against the current'' (''Pod prąd'') and a book entitled ''New Chapter'' (''Nowy rozdział'') which contains his political reflections, published a few months before the launch of his political party.

Political career

Early political career (2005–2014)

In 2005, Biedroń was an unsuccessful

(SLD) candidate for the

, the lower house of the Polish parliament. In the October 2011 parliamentary elections, Biedroń was elected to the

as a candidate of

Palikot Movement Your Movement ( pl, Twój Ruch, which can also be translated as ''Your Move'', TR) is a social liberal, populist and anti-clerical political party in Poland. The party was founded by Janusz Palikot, a former Civic Platform MP, in October 2010 a ...

, receiving 16,919 votes in the

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

district. He was the first openly gay member of the ''

''. He has been a victim of

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

aggression, having been attacked physically several times since his election.

Member of the Sejm (2011–2014)

During his term as a member of the

, Biedrón served as vice-president of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In addition to his parliamentary work, Biedroń was a member of the Polish delegation to the

from 2012 to 2015.

Mayor of Słupsk (2014–2018)

Biedroń ran in the mayoral elections in Słupsk in 2014, a city of around 95,000 inhabitants located in the

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province ( Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; (Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The ...

. He secured 57% of the vote in the second round. He thus became the first openly gay mayor ever in Poland. Once elected mayor of Słupsk, Biedroń pursued an austerity policy. Indeed, the city was heavily indebted, with a total debt of 300 million zlotys, when he took up office. He decided for instance to waive his official car, he requested to the City Council to lower his wage and he closed several local agencies. In 2017, the total debt of Słupsk decreased to 232 million zlotys. During his term, Biedroń carried out a pro-ecological, egalitarian policy with some elements of participatory democracy. The city realized the thermo-modernisation of public buildings. The mayor initiated the « Red Couch » – a red couch was placed in public areas to talk with the constituents. He has also created some consultative bodies, such as the Sustainable Development Council, the Women's Council and the Seniors' Council. He refused to host a circus with wild animals and opened a new animal shelter in Słupsk. As mayor, Biedroń belonged to the

from 2015 to 2018. Besides this, he was a member of the Advisory Group on Gender, Forced Displacement and Protection created by the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(UNHCR). Biedrón did not run again in the mayoral elections in 2018, but he supported his deputy mayor Krystyna Danilecka-Wojewódzka.

Leadership of Spring (2019–present)

JKRUK 20190219 ROBERT BIEDROŃ KIELCE DSCN2269

On 4 September 2018, Biedroń launched what he termed a "pro-democratic" political movement aimed at challenging the ruling

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 ...

party. He then launched the "Brainstormings with Biedroń", a series of events aimed at discussing about the future of Poland. Each "Brainstorming" was conducted by Biedroń and attracted hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people. In December, he announced the first goals of his yet unnamed party: shutting down all coal mines in Poland by 2035, improving the health care system and ending state subsidies to

the church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

. In February 2019, Biedroń founded a new political party called

(Polish: Wiosna), He intends to build an alternative to the conservative

vs. liberal

Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It w ...

political duopoly. Spring won 6,1% of the votes in the European elections and Robert Biedroń was elected a

on his party's list on 26 May 2019. Before the parliamentary election in October 2019, he co-founded The Left (''Lewica''), a political alliance composed of the

(SLD),

and the

(''Lewica Razem''). He is one of The Left's three leaders. In January 2020 Robert Biedron was chosen by this alliance as the candidate or the left for the 2020 présidential election. The election was planned for 10 May 2020, but was postponed.

Member of European Parliament (2019–present)

Once elected to the European Parliament, he has since been serving on the

Committee on Budgets The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 41 members plus 39 substitute members. The committee's current chair is Jean Arthuis Jean Arthuis (born 7 October 1944 in Saint-Martin-du-Bois, Maine-et-Loire) is ...

and the

Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality The Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) is a committee of the European Parliament. Membership Chair Vice Chairs *Eugenia Rodríguez Palop *Sylwia Spurek * Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi * Robert Biedroń Members *Regina Bastos ...

. He chairs the delegation for relations with Belarus and is a member of the delegation for relations with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. He belongs to the group of the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

(S&D).

2020 presidential election

In January 2020, his candidacy received the support of the

and

, which jointly issued him in the presidential election in the same year. He was also supported by the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' ...

Political positions

After the

Supreme Court of Poland , imagesize = 100 , established = , country =Poland , location = Warsaw , coordinates = , type = Presidential nomination , authority = Constitution of Poland , terms = , positions ...

ruled in 2020 that abortions in cases of foetal defects are unconstitutional, Biedroń called on the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

to "widen the scope" of

Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union is a procedure in the treaties of the European Union ( EU) to suspend certain rights from a member state. While rights can be suspended, there is no mechanism to expel a state from the union. The procedu ...

— which at present is limited to concerns over the judiciary — to

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countr ...

Personal life

Biedroń's life partner is Krzysztof Śmiszek, member of the

, doctor of law, activist in the Campaign Against Homophobia and board chairman of the Polish Society of Anti-Discrimination Law. He identifies as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

In popular culture

Biedroń is the subject of a documentary by Paul Szynol called ''Biedroń: Unfinished''. The film was cut as a short because Biedroń backed out of the project for fear that it would hurt him politically.

Awards

Biedroń received the French

National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC O ...

on 20 July 2016.

References

External links

*
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biedron, Robert 1976 births Democratic Left Alliance politicians Gay politicians LGBT mayors Polish LGBT politicians LGBT MEPs for Poland Polish LGBT rights activists Living people People from Krosno Polish atheists Members of the Polish Sejm 2011–2015 Mayors of places in Poland Your Movement politicians People from Rymanów MEPs for Poland 2019–2024 Candidates in the 2020 Polish presidential election University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn alumni