Nearly every resident of a Polish village voted for this gay man as mayor
A village in Poland has elected an openly gay man to serve as mayor.
Locals elected Łukasz Włodarczyk to run Bobrowniki, a village located almost three hours by car from the Polish capital of Warsaw.
Poland is one of the most homophobic societies in Europe, where a majority of people believe homosexuality to be “immoral”.
However the recent election saw the man, who is married to another man, win a landslide – with 700 of the 800 residents voting for him.
Just one local voted for Włodarczyk’s opponent, presumably himself.
The remaining villagers did not vote or were not eligible to vote in the election.
He will now serve as the ‘Sołtys’, or head of the village in English.
Włodarczyk says that locals know he is married to a man, and don’t mind the fact.
However his marriage isn’t valid in his hometown.
The new mayor flew to Scotland to get married, but it isn’t recognised as a marriage in Poland.
The election results will come as a surprise to many in Poland, one of the least LGBT-friendly countries in Europe.
The human rights organisation said Poland needs to change its laws to protect LGBT people, homeless people and disabled people from hate crimes.
Mr Włodarczyk is set to star in half hour show on TVN24, discussing his life and being an out gay man in Polish politics.
Poland was previously the first place in Europe to elect a transgender MP.
Speaking at the time of her election, the MP said: “Poland is changing and I am the proof, along with Robert Biedron, a homosexual and the head of an anti-homophobia campaign who ran for office in Gdynia (a city on Poland’s Baltic coast).”
