Here is a heartwarming Valentine’s Day message of love: Students at Bednarska High School, an elite music academy in Warsaw, Poland, celebrated their senior year dance by pairing up as same-gender couples, to create a friendlier environment for their LGBTQ peers.
Each year in Poland, senior-year students attend their studniówka, the Polish equivalent to prom, and partake in dancing the Polonaise, a ballroom dance that dates back hundreds of years. Learning the Polonaise is a tradition for Polish teenagers, although it is perhaps a bit of a chore for many, as there is lots of bowing, curtsying, and general walking to and fro while holding hands. To spice things up, the dance has an occasional pose by the lady as the gentleman circles around her, looking suave. And like any ballroom dance, the gender roles of the Polonaise are clearly defined; mixing up those gender roles might elicit gasps from anyone with conservative sensitivities.
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Important to consider the fact that this dance was in the capital of Poland, a place where daily life is strictly influenced by the Catholic Church (there used to be more Jews, but World War II messed that up). Same-sex marriage is not legal, adoption by same-sex couples is not legal. It is refreshing to see this group of students take a stand with a message that is so simple, yet so important for those who need to see it, and they accomplished it with a sense of fun.
Various social organizations threw their support behind the prom, including ice cream giant and social justice army Ben & Jerry’s, which has promoted numerous campaigns for equality in marriage and gender identity throughout Poland. Hopefully, they will release a celebratory ice cream flavor.
Would pierogis and vodka be good in ice cream?
