It’s a far cry from ELSKA’s hometown of Providence in the liberal state of Rhode Island to Warsaw in Poland which nowadays is often in the news for a surging wave of conservatism and homophobia that has been taking over the country over the past few years, It has been driven by right wing politicians and religious leaders using hate as their rallying call. The regressive state of affairs for the LGBTQ community is in stark contrast to an economy that is modernising at one of the fastest rates in Europe. Still, not all of Poland is on board with hate, and this latest Elska publication is a vehicle for giving queer Poles an amplified voice, for letting queer Polish bodies be seen, and for generally countering anti- gay rhetoric with a proud homosexual propaganda.
Elska’s Editor-in-Chief Liam Campbell has always made an effort to show how local LGBTQ guys conduct their own daily lives in repressed cities around the world, and so focusing this latest edition of his E-Zine on Warsaw just continues that tradition.
Campbell told Queerguru “I’ve been saddened by the headlines coming from Poland, from anti-gay protest marches, to thenational distribution of anti-LGBTQ stickers, to even the arrest of local artists who have dared to use the rainbow in their work, and that’s why I knew we had to come to Poland now,“I hope that as many Poles as possible will to see this work, whether they are proud or disgusted at the results. I certainly am incredibly proud of the men I met in Warsaw who were willing to take part in our project and so publicly and intimately
declare themselves out and unafraid.”
Inside the Magazine, besides each of the photographs we have shown below, are the men’s touching stories of their own lives living in Warsaw today. They reveal so much more than the photos themselves.
Elska’s Warsaw issue is sold in select retailers around the world and is also for sale online in a classic print ‘bookazine’ or in an electronic version for tablet/iPad. The companion zine Elska Ekstra Warsaw is also available exclusively from the website, in an e-version and in a very limited edition print version. A list of stockists and details of the subscription service can also be found on the Elska website: www.elskamagazine.com
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