Kołodziejski: Communism has not disappeared, it has merely transformed itself. Red banners have been replaced by rainbow banners

Traditionally, the participants of the Warsaw Equality Parade could not refrain from scoffing at the Catholic Church, anti-Christian mockery and the hooliganic language on banners.

Certainly, such behaviour will not help rainbow activists to break out of social isolation. Nor will it help those members of the LGBT community who stay away from similar quarrels - they will be more and more often lumped together with ideological fanatics. But it’s not my problem and it’s not my concern.

I would like to draw attention to something else. Well, the Parade for Equality more and more resembles the old May Day parades, in which red flags have been replaced by rainbow ones. It is a manifestation of an ideology which, like communism in the past, claims the right to exclusivity. It is aggressive and ostentatiously, step by step, taking over the public sphere. It is present on the streets, invading schools, the media, culture and politics.

On social networks there are photos showing participants of the parade carrying banners with logos of various - so far mainly foreign companies and concerns. Just like in the communist era, when the streets were filled with artificial enthusiasm by successive delegations chanting antifascist and „progressive” slogans: there was „Waryński”, „Bumar”, „PKO” and „Huta Lenina”; there were actors from ZASP, students from SZSP and employees of PGR.

Delegations from embassies also attended: from representatives of North Korea to Soviet delegates. What about today? Today, embassies are also present. For example, the American one, which boasts that its employees „in a friendly atmosphere” expressed „support for the idea of tolerance, mutual acceptance, equality and protection of human rights for all people”. I don’t usually make such comparisons, but I immediately associated it with the Soviet delegation in the May Day march, which came to support the idea of peace, „socialism” and class justice.

I represent a generation that still remembers those parades and those times. And I experience déjà vu more and more often. Communism has not disappeared, it has merely transformed itself.