Between the Holy Cross and Free Market. Addressing the Issue of Homosexuality in the Narratives of Former Students in Polish Schools

Abstract

In the article the authors present the results of the research based on in-depth interviews with 22 young gays and lesbians, graduates of different types schools in Poland. The main goal of the research was to indicate how, in the opinions of the respondents, the issue of homosexuality was addressed in schools they attended and how these particular ways of treating homosexuality might be related to the wider socio-cultural context. The qualitative analysis of the narratives with the application of thematic analysis of the data let the authors identify four main categories comprising the ways of dealing with the issue of homosexuality (silence, pathologising attitude, the language of sin, pogrom and alternativeless heterosexuality). The authors associate these ways of treating homosexuality with the socio-political context, particularly with the impact of the conservative Catholic church and neo-liberal turn, both of which triggered an ideological backlash in education, resulting in marginalisation of a range of issues in school curricula and permission to use homophobic language in public sphere, including educational settings.