Krystyna Pawlowicz. (Photo by Lukas Plewnia, from Wikimedia Commons – Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) | A Polish top court judge deleted a tweet April 8 in which she had publicized personal information about a transgender child, triggering accusations that she had placed the youth in danger.
This is the latest development highlighting a divide over LGBTQ and gender issues that pits conservatives in the mostly Roman Catholic nation against those seeking greater acceptance of LGBTQ people.
So far, discussions have focused mostly on adult gays and lesbians, but the judge’s tweet this week brought calls for empathy for transgender youth.
Krystyna Pawlowicz, a justice on the Constitutional Tribunal, wrote critically on Twitter April 6 about the case of a school in the town of Podkowa Lesna, near Warsaw, which is respecting the child’s wish to use a girl’s name.
In that original tweet, Pawlowicz argued that the school was disregarding the official sex designation on the child’s records. Pawlowicz referred to the child as a boy, gave the child’s chosen first name and the full name of the principal, as well as the name and address of the school.
Amid the controversy triggered by the tweet, Pawlowicz said she had deleted it “for the sake of the child.”
Pawlowicz is a former lawmaker for the country’s ruling party, Law and Justice, who is known for her strongly conservative views. She was appointed to the Constitutional Tribunal in 2019.
Cezary Tomczyk, who leads the centrist Civic Platform’s parliamentary group, accused Pawlowicz April 8 of putting the child “in real danger.” Tomczyk said the party was submitting a request for prosecutors to investigate.
The mayor of the town where the child attends school, Artur Tusinski, published a statement April 7 calling the original tweet “disgusting” and saying it took aim at the welfare of the school and the principal.
Tusisnki also said there had also been an “enormous” outpouring of support for the child and that the school is “open to the needs of every student, including transgender students.”
“We do not agree to the cynical use of children in political games,” he said.
