Last Updated on January 4, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry
Q Spirit founder Kittredge Cherry sent a letter protesting the recent arrest of a Polish LGBTQ activist for posters of the Virgin Mary and Christ child with rainbow halos.
Elżbieta Podleśna was arrested recently for “offending religious sentiments” on charges that she put up the rainbow Mary posters. She faces up to two years in prison if found guilty.
[Update in September 2022:Elzbieta Podlesna, Anna Prus, and Joanna Gzyra-Iskandar were acquitted of these charges in March 2021 by a Polish district court in Plock, but the ruling was appealed, so the case is not over.]
“This arrest offends MY religious sentiments as a queer Christian believer!” said Q Spirit founder Kittredge Cherry. “Other artists use rainbows in religious art to show God’s solidarity with queer people and the holiness of LGBTQ lives. These liberating images are valued by LGBTQ Christians and their allies all around the world. I urge everyone to show support for Elżbieta and religious freedom.”
Join her in sending a protest message to the Polish government through Amnesty International’s campaign “Urgent: Stop harassment of activist Elżbieta Podleśna.”
“Having, creating or distributing posters such as the rainbow Mary should not be a criminal offense and is protected under the right to freedom of expression. In fact, her arrest is an insult to the beliefs of progressive people of faith. Religious symbols belong to everybody. You should be protecting our religious sentiments too,” Cherry wrote in her message to the Minister of Interior.
She urged the Polish Minister of Interior to drop the charges immediately, return all of Podleśna’s belongings and allow her to carry out her peaceful activism without harassment by authorities.
The full text of Cherry’s message is at the end of this article.
Cherry researched and wrote about similar incidents when LGBTQ Christian art was censored or destroyed in “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More.”
“Sexual orientation is not a sin or a crime and the Holy Mother would protect such people from the Church and from priests who think it is okay to condemn others,” Podlesna said in a BBC interview. BBC News reports that she believes in God, but is no longer a practicing Catholic. She has received death threats because of her activism.
Police raided Podleśna’s home
Police raided Podleśna’s home in Warsaw on May 6 and allegedly found posters showing the Virgin Mary with a halo in the rainbow colors of the LGBT pride flag. They arrested her and detained her for almost five hours. They also confiscated her electronic equipment, including her laptop computer, mobile phone and memory cards.
Her arrest got major international news coverage. Hundreds of people carried the controversial icon to support Podleśna at the “10,000 Rainbow Marys” protest on May 7 in Warsaw. The demonstration was recorded on video.
Her lawyer, Radoslaw Baszuk, told CNN that they plan to fight the charges in court. He said that the rainbow Mary was not presented in a way that publicly insults or desecrates a religious image.
In April the posters appeared on walls, garbage bins and mobile toilets near St. Dominik’s church in the central city of Plock. According to news reports, the church used its traditional Easter display of Christ’s tomb to denounce LGBTQ rights.
Poland’s Rainbow Mary helped inspire this Rainbow Madonna from the Queerhaven shop at Etsy.
Rainbow Madonna fits in Christian art history
The poster fits into a long tradition of Christian art. It adds a rainbow halo to the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, the most revered icon in Poland and a symbol of national identity as well as religious faith.
The symbolism of the rainbow resonates far beyond the LGBTQ flag. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the rainbow stands for God’s promise to support all life on earth. It plays an important role in the story of Noah’s Ark. After the flood, God places a rainbow in the sky, saying, “Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” (Genesis 9:15-16). In the Book of Revelation, a rainbow encircles the throne of Christ in heaven.
They include American artist Katy Miles-Wallace, who uses rainbow haloes in her “Queer Saints” series, British artist Richard Stott, who painted the Madonna wrapped in a rainbow flag; Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff, who drew Jesus with a rainbow flag as a loincloth; and American artist David Hayward, who shows Jesus with rainbow halos or bleeding rainbow blood. An Anglican church in New Zealand put up billboards of the baby Jesus with a rainbow halo for Christmas.
Polish blasphemy law used to limit debate
Poland is one of many historically Christian countries with blasphemy laws. The Polish penal code states, “Whoever offends religious feelings of other people by publicly insulting an object of religious cult or a place for public holding of religious ceremonies, is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or loss of liberty for up to 2 years.”
It is so vague that conservatives have used it to limit free speech and prevent debate on clergy sex abuse and the impact of the Roman Catholic church on Polish politics and society.
“The case highlights divisions within devoutly Catholic Poland ahead of European and national parliamentary elections in which the conservative ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) party hopes to make LGBT rights a battleground with the more liberal opposition,” Reuters reported.
The anti-LGBTQ sentiment behind the arrest is obvious from some of the insulting comments from conservative Polish leaders about the rainbow Madonna. For example, news reports quote interior minister Joachim Brudziński describing the posters as “profanation” and “cultural barbarism.”
Letter of protest from Kittredge Cherry
This is the full text of the letter sent by Q Spirit founder Kittredge Cherry to the Polish minister of the interior on May 16, 2019, via the Amnesty International “take action” page:
Stop harassing activist Elżbieta Podleśna – You offend my progressive religious faith
Dear Minister of Interior,
Stop legal action against Elżbieta Podleśna for “offending religious sentiments” with the rainbow Madonna of Czestochowa. This arrest offends MY religious sentiments as a queer Christian minister!
I am a clergy in the Metropolitan Community Church, a denomination that affirms all people, including LGBT people. I am also the author of “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More,” a book about LGBT Christian art, and “Hide and Speak,” a coming-out guide that was published in Poland as “Coming out: Co ukrywać, a o czym mówić.”
Having, creating or distributing posters such as the rainbow Mary should not be a criminal offense and is protected under the right to freedom of expression. In fact, her arrest is an insult to the beliefs of progressive people of faith. Religious symbols belong to everybody. You should be protecting our religious sentiments too.
Sexual orientation is not a sin and the Holy Mother would protect LGBT people and other outcasts from discrimination
Other artists use rainbows in religious art to show God’s solidarity with queer people and the holiness of LGBTQ lives. These liberating images are valued by LGBTQ Christians and their allies all around the world. In addition, rainbows appear throughout art history as a symbol of God’s promise to support all life on earth.
Elżbieta Podleśna is already facing numerous legal proceedings stemming solely from her peaceful activism. The way she is targeted with absurd charges in this case is harassment.
I therefore urge you to ensure that the investigation against Elżbieta Podleśna for “offending religious beliefs” is halted immediately, that the police return all of her belongings and that she can carry out her peaceful activism free from harassment and reprisals by the authorities.
I pray for you with the English and Polish words of the Rainbow Christ Prayer, which is honored by LGBT people of faith and our allies worldwide:
Rainbow Christ, you embody all the colors of the world. Rainbows serve as bridges between different realms: heaven and earth, east and west, queer and non-queer. Inspire us to remember the values expressed in the rainbow flag of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.
Rainbow Christ, you light up the world. You make rainbows as a promise to support all life on earth. In the rainbow space, we can see all the hidden connections between sexualities, genders and races. Like the rainbow, may we embody all the colors of the world! Amen.
Tęczowy Chryste, ucieleśniasz wszystkie barwy świata. Tęcze łączą różne wymiary rzeczywistości: niebo i ziemię, wschód i zachód, to, co queer, i to, co nie queer. Przypominaj nam o wartościach wyrażanych przez tęczową flagę społeczności lesbijek, gejów, biseksualistów i osób transpłciowych.
Tęczowy Chryste, Ty oświecasz świat i tworzysz tęcze jako obietnice wsparcia wszelkiego życia na ziemi. W tęczowej przestrzeni możemy dojrzeć wszystkie te ukryte połączenia między seksualnościami, płciami i rasami. Obyśmy, niczym tęcza, ucieleśniali wszystkie barwy świata! Amen.
Yours sincerely,
Rev. Kittredge Cherry
Founder and publisher, Qspirit.net
Links related to Poland’s rainbow Madonna
Three Activists Behind Marian Icon with Pro-LGBTQ Imagery Acquitted by Polish Court (New Ways Ministry)
“Black Madonna of Czestochowa becomes lesbian defender Erzuli Dantor” by Kittredge Cherry (English)
Polish translation: Czarna Madonna zostaje obrończynią lesbijek: Erzuli Dantor i Matka Boża Częstochowska
Modlitwa do Tęczowego Chrystusa (Rainbow Christ Prayer in Polish)
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Top image:
Rainbow Madonna of Czestochowa poster that led to arrest
This article was originally published on Q Spirit in May 2019, was expanded with new material over time, and most recently updated on Nov. 22, 2022.
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.
Hello! I love your work. I am a minister in an open and affirming jurisdiction of the US Old Catholic Church and I would like to buy a download or print of the Rainbow Madonna. Do you know where I could obtain one for our church?
Thanks! I thought that the Polish Rainbow Madonna prints were available for purchase somewhere, but I couldn’t find them today. However there is a nice alternate Rainbow Madonna that you can buy from Queerhaven on Etsy at this link: https://tidd.ly/3wLiQ2a
I found that the genuine Polish Rainbow Madonna is available on T-shirt with permission from the artist and proceeds benefiting an organization that helps trans people in Poland. You can order them here:
https://holycommunion.threadless.com/designs/test
How can we send a card of support directly to Elzbieta? Do you have her mailing address?
I don’t have her mailing address, but you can try sending a message through Elzbieta’s Facebook page.
This is a beautiful image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. It makes me very sad that such action is being taken against Podleśna by the extreme Law and Order Party in Poland. But I am heartened to see our brothers and sisters in peaceful protest against such outrageous sentiment.