Poland's first transsexual MP 'symbolic moment'
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
09.11.2011 12:10
Poland's first transsexual MP prompted intense interest from international media on Tuesday during the inaugural session of the Polish parliament after October's general election.
Anna Grodzka; photo - PAP
International media outlets homed in on Anna Grodzka, 57, who was born Krzysztof Begowski but underwent a full sex change in 2010.
“It is a symbolic moment, but we owe this symbolism not to me but to the people of Poland because they made their choice,” she told the Associated Press.
Grodzka stood for the liberal, anti-clerical Palikot's Movement, a newly created party that won a surprise 10 percent share of the vote in the 9 October election.
She gained her seat in the southern city of Krakow, through proportional representation.
Spanish news agency EFE claimed that Grodzka “is making history in Catholic Poland.”
The international press also focused on Robert Biedron, a colleague of Grodzka's from Palikot's Movement. Biedron is Poland's first openly gay MP.
Journalists likewise noted that the new Speaker of the lower house of parliament (Sejm), is a woman, in this case former Health Minister Ewa Kopacz from the centre-right Civic Platform party.
The Civic Platform was the dominant party once again in last month's general election, and it is continuing its coalition government with the Polish Peasants' Party. (nh/pg)