Gay blog

I’m a Polish (from Poland, a rather big country in Central Europe :] ) gay guy. This is English version of my blog Homikus Pospolitus. I launched the Polish version in November 2007. Then, in February 2008, I came up with an idea of launching this English version. What for? I didn’t really know. Perhaps just to show to the people from other countries, how it is to be a gay in a rather homophobic country. Because Poland is a homophobic country. In every aspect - political, social, religious. But what I’m asking You, Dear Visitor, for is… patience and understanding. I’m not an English native speaker, my native language is Polish. Therefore, language errors are unavoidable. I only hope, that my English is good enough for You to understand it.

I launched this English version at the beginning of March 2008. Step by step I am translating all the posts from the past. Eventually, the two versions will be updated simultaneously.

Now the most important thing an English-speaking Visitor should know. Let me explain the name of this blog and the presence of its main character. Namely - a hamster, and to be more precise - Hamtaro from the anime series.

Homikus Pospolitus - let’s begin with the first word, “homikus”. It is my own free, Latinized by the ending -us, variation of a Polish slang word homik, which is a friendly term for a homosexual (homoseksualista in Polish - quite similar, isn’t it?). So, the word doesn’t really exist, but everyone knows its meaning: a homosexual. Furthermore, homik (a homosexual) is pronounced exactly the same as another Polish word chomik, which means neither more nor less than a hamster. And that’s where the omnipresent cute hamster Hamtaro comes from.
And now the second word, “pospolitus”. It is also my own free, Latinized by the ending -us, variation of a Polish adjective pospolity, which means common, ordinary, everyday. But why the Latinization? Just to make it sound similar to something like homo sapiens or other Latin species names.

So, the whole phrase “homikus pospolitus” could be best translated as queer as folk, just like the TV series title, which fits here like no other.

[continuation of Author's note]

Well, some of You could think that I proclaim myself some kind of a missionary, who wants to convert normal people to his queer ideology and launched a blog to spread his sick queer propaganda. Others would tell me to stop exciting and looking at myself and the world only through my sexual orientation, and that I had better treat myself as a human like everyone else, because it doesn’t make any difference to them, whether I fall in love with a boy or a girl and whether I come to a party with a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Both of these points of view are not new for me, both of them I was told many times. And with both of them I cannot agree. Well, at least partially.

As for the first option. I’m not going to force anything upon anybody, I’m not going to force anybody to convert to anything. This is, fortunately, a free country (at least nominally). But I am going to spread the propaganda and I will. Just like our beloved leader Father Director used to say: my dear, we have to seed, seed, seed… ¹. Polish society is, generally speaking, intolerant and rather antipathetic towards any minority - religious, ethnic or sexual. Well, homosexuality is not a matter of choice, it’s not something you could get rid of and it is definitely not a sickness (though some people would disagree). And people’s attitude doesn’t make my life easier. Not once and not twice, while walking on the streets, I had a dubious pleasure to hear a group of youngsters swearing at me. (Btw., I really don’t know why… in my humble opinion I don’t look provocative. But I’m not the one to judge. Maybe I’m wrong…) And my own family is not an exception, they belong to this kind of people, who hate homosexuals without any rational reason. Well, Jews as well, to make the image complete - so You know where it all comes from: religious beliefs, they’re just blind and irrational Catholics. And that’s the attitude which I simply cannot understand. And I feel really bad with the awareness of the situation, that I can’t walk hand in hand with my boyfriend on the street, that I can’t embrace him in a public park or restaurant, that I can’t hug him on the Śląsko-Dąbrowski Bridge (one of the bridges in Warsaw) in the evening. Well, to be honest, I can, as I already said - it’s a free country. But I still care about his and my own teeth, ribs, backbones or even lives.

As for the second option. I’d really like to stop looking at the world so much from a gay’s perspective. But this topic is related to what I wrote above. Unease, fear of rejection, hatred… That’s not as easy as it could seem to be. I suppose nobody will tell me, that the status of homosexuals in Poland and in the whole world is equal to the status of heterosexuals. I suppose nobody will tell me, that a gay couple walking in the Old Town (in Warsaw I mean) attracts the same neutral, or even positive feelings among passers-by (well, perhaps among the tourist from the West). I suppose nobody will tell me, that a father who hears about his son’s gayness will give him his blessing and invite him and his partner to a feast-day dinner. There are praiseworthy exceptions. But they only confirm the rule. And all above mentioned is why my sexual orientation will always be connected with the majority of other aspects of my life. The aspects, in case of which the heterosexuals don’t even think of sexuality.

And who am I actually (apart from that I’m a gay :] )? Well, my Dear Visitor, my name is Bart and I am a 22 years 23 years old student of sinology at the University of Warsaw. This of course indicates Warsaw as my place of residence. In Internet I’ve existed for a long time and in many places. But I always used a different nickname and a different avatar. Namely: zhao-zhuxi and this avatar on the right. And, in most cases, as a sinologist, sometimes as a photographer-amateur, sometimes as a webmaster or webdesigner. Is it right or is it wrong that I decided to show myself as a gay guy - time shall tell. I hope I won’t regret it.

¹ It’s a joke. I am not Catholic. I’m a 100% atheist. Just to make things clear.