Conspirators, Corruptors, Pariahs: The Judaization of Gay People in Polish Right-Wing Discourse

Abstract:The goal of this paper is to compare two exclusionary discourses with an essential role within Polish ethnic nationalism: anti-Semitism and homophobia. Samples of the former are taken from the 1930s, while examples of the latter are taken from 2004, the year of Poland’s EU accession when a new wave of culture wars centered around LGBT issues was taking off. The analysis reveals the underlying structure of both discourses and thus aims to decipher their function in the construction of a particular version of national identity, wherein ethnic and gendered aspects of the nation are mutually implicated. Jews and/or gay people are construed as the „threatening other” within the matrix of exclusion that represents them as conspirators against the nation’s sovereignty, corruptors of the youth, and pariahs, who can be rightfully discriminated against.