Polish Politician Films Himself Destroying LGBTQ+ Display

A Polish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) has come under fire after being filmed vandalising an LGBTQ+ exhibition in the Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s parliament.

Footage circulating online shows far-right MEP Grzegorz Braun aggressively tearing down rainbow-themed displays from easels and stomping on them until none were left standing.

When questioned by journalists, all filming the incident from various angles, Braun responded: “I prevent public scandal.”

An officer from the Marshal Guard, who was present at the time, attempted to intervene, stating: “Please don’t destroy the exhibition. I call you to order. You are destroying property,” according to Onet Warszawa.

The Speaker of the Sejm, Marshal Szymon Hołownia, has since announced that Braun will be banned from entering the parliamentary chamber following his actions, as reported by TVN24.

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski condemned the incident on X (formerly Twitter), questioning the inaction of the guard: “As a former Speaker of the Sejm, I do not understand why the Speaker’s Guard did not once again catch deputy Braun red-handed in the act of destroying private property.”

Despite the vandalism, the exhibition boards were soon returned to their display.

This is not the first time Braun has targeted LGBTQ+ exhibitions. In March, he defaced photographs at a queer-themed exhibition in Opole by spray-painting over them. In another widely condemned act, Braun used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the Polish parliament in December 2023.

The incident comes at a time of significant shifts in Poland’s stance on queer rights. In April, the country officially abolished its final “LGBT-free” zone—six years after such discriminatory policies were first introduced—signalling a move towards greater inclusion.