Did you ever think you’d see the day??
Only a week ago Brendan Fay and his partner Tom Moulton were making headlines as Polish president Lech Kaczynski used footage of their wedding ceremony in Canada to illustrate why the Lisbon treaty was not such a good thing.
The footage and display of the couple’s Canadian marriage certificate is a about 2.25 into the political broadcast (I’ll leave my commentary on the delights of Polish political broadcasting to another day)
Now Brendan is in Poland to appear on TV after making complaints to the Polish Consulate. A TV company have flown him over, the Polish gay movement are hoping to use the visit to discuss domestic partnerships and from my sources in Warsaw things have gone a bit nuts on the Fay front.
Fay arrived yesterday in Warsaw to scenes of chaos at the airport.
Brendan is originally from Drogheda and is no stranger to controversy having been involved in ILGO – the group that campaigned to march in the St. Patricks Day Parade in New York. Being involved in ILGO is not controversial in and of itself but Brendan left ILGO to form another group which took part in and organised a inclusive St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Queens.
The sexuality of the chaplain to the Fire Department of New York was also a subject of note for Fay. Following Fr. Mychal Judge’s death Brendan and others spoke about and commemorated Judge’s sexuality not without much comment and horror from those in the mainstream and catholic media.
And now he’s in Poland talking about the Polish President and his homophobia. A Polish MP, Nelly Rokita, says the President should meet Fay whilst blaming his senior advisor for using the wedding video.
She would happily meet with the gay man from the Presidential address. “In order to see how far Europe, the USA and Canada have lost their way on these issues. Our culture and customs are different and I hope that they will allow us to be ourselves”. She emphasized “God gifted me with the luck of being normal, but I respect the differences of others”.
(From a translation provided by KPH)
The advisor Mr. Kamiński meanwhile is saying no way (in Polish!) to any meeting with President Kaczynski. Brendan will no doubt keep trying!
More from Warsaw as I get it.
* Lots of poetic license being used in the title of this post – seemingly they all think Brendan is American and the Poles love anything star spangle bannered.
Jazz Biscuit: » It’s a Jazz shaped interweb // Mar 31, 2008 at 03:32
[...] guy involved (his name is Brendan and he’s from Drogheda) is in Warsaw at the minute. Read The most famous Irish Man in Poland [...]
You gotta love it! Gives new meaning to the advert ‘do something Irish!!’
When you invoke God and use words like normal you’re already losing any rational dialogue.
I can’t see Brendan being upset at the public profile.
I think it would have been nice if they had been greeted by Roman Catholics, protesting against their visit by saying decades of the rosary. He could have blessed them as he passed through.
(I once had the spooky experience of being in a hotel in Bucharest while the police protected us from Orthodox Christian protestors who marched around holding an icon and praying for the redemption of Romania.)